Over €5 million in direct orders spent by agencies under Prime Minister’s office

Over €5 million in direct orders were issued by agencies and regulators falling under the responsibility of the Office of the Prime Minister in 2017.

The information was delivered in a reply to a parliamentary question by Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi.

Direct orders are issued by government for procurement of goods and services without the need to issue a public call for tenders or expression of interest. In general, finance ministry approval is sought for the issuance of such direct orders that is over and above €10,000.

The data shows that the financial regulator, the MFSA, issued over €672,000 in direct orders, the main item being €514,000 in the renewal of a firewall for the regulator’s IT systems.

The Malta Communications Authority issued €443,000 in direct orders, while the Malta IT Agency (MITA) issued €1.87 million in direct orders, with the main services being a €552,000 support contract with IBM Inform, €227,000 for the e-ID software maintenance, but also €112,000 in cleaning services.

The Malta Gaming Authority issued €795,840 in direct orders, the main items being €216,000 in global reputation management services and €228,000 in technical assistance on anti-money laundering rules.

Identity Malta issued €299,111 in direct orders while the Malta Council for Science and Technology spent just over €118,000 in direct orders.