Prime Minister tables €100 an hour contract for Labour MP

When your hour is worth €100 of taxpayers’ money...

Labour MP Edward Zammit Lewis earns €100 an hour for a 10-hour weekly 'shift' at Identity Malta
Labour MP Edward Zammit Lewis earns €100 an hour for a 10-hour weekly 'shift' at Identity Malta

The Prime Minister has tabled in the House a contract that pays Labour MP and former minister Edward Zammit Lewis nothing less than €100 an hour, VAT excluded, for legal services to Identity Malta. 

The former tourism minister was individually engaged to provide legal consultancy to Identity Malta – the agency responsible for identity documents, work and residence permits. 

The MP’s honoraria is now boosted by an engagement which involves him working for not more than 10 hours a week at Identity Malta, guaranteeing him €1,000 weekly over the course of his six-month engagement, or some €24,000 in total. 

Additionally, Zammit Lewis can claim disbursements for any expenses he incurs. 

The contract was tabled on request by a PQ of Nationalist MP Simon Busuttil.

During the last legislature, Zammit Lewis was appointed minister for tourism in 2014 but he did not retain his portfolio after he was unable to secure a parliamentary seat in last month’s snap general election. He was then elected to parliament by means of the Labour Party’s casual elections for seats vacated by candidates elected on two districts.