Parliamentary Secretary Chris Agius pledges consultation with Opposition

By Frederick Attard

Parliamentary Secretary Chris Agius, responsible for Research, Innovation, Youth and Sport praised the way he used to be consulted by Clyde Puli during the previous legislature when he was in office. Chris Agius explained that there were many occasions when he did not agree with Clyde Puli but the fact that he was consulted with, helped to reach better conclusions and solutions for the best interest of Sports in Malta. He now intends to use the same practice with shadow spokesperson for sports Robert Cutajar.

Agius was appointed as parliamentary secretary in the recent cabinet reshuffle.  Whilst he claimed to still be trying to find his way around his office - housed within the Ministry for Education and Employment – he said that he had already been in contact with all sports organizations to set up meeting with them, with some of these already having taken place.

Agius admitted that although he is new to Research & Innovation, he has done his research as of late due to the fact that the European Union is paying a lot of emphasis on the subject in order to increase employment opportunities. He is now steering the finalisation of the National Strategy for Research & Innovation which intends to complement the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme, aided by a financial budget of €80 million.

Read more in today’s edition of ILLUM.