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PM claims former minister had consultancy contract with a government company in his own name
Prime Minister says stopping Franco Mercieca's private practice was a wise decision in light of the situation.
13 June 2013, 12:00am
Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
2 min read
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat alluded to a former minister, whom he refused to name, who he said had a consultancy contract with a government company in his own name.
Parliamentary secretary Franco Mercieca has agreed to stop all his surgical interventions with immediate effect, even if this means patients would suffer, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said this morning.
Muscat said he thought this a wise decision since there were some who, in spite of the limited waiver he had issued the ophthalmic surgeon, tried to "instrumentalise" the situation.
The Prime Minister said there was at least one patient who would have to go abroad because he was not referred to Mercieca.
Muscat also alluded to a former minister, whom he refused to name, who he said had a consultancy contract with a government company in his own name.
This follows the recent news, after a video released by The Sunday Times, that Mercieca was earning €3,600 in one morning in breach of the Code of Ethics.
Mercieca will continue to work free of charge at Mater Dei Hospital.
When he was appointed parliamentary secretary for the elderly, Mercieca had been issued with a limited waiver by the Prime Minister which granted him special permission to continue practising eye surgery in the case of patients who required procedures only he could perform locally.
However, it was revealed he was also carrying out laser surgery and operations for cataracts at a private hospital. This was being done in breach of the waiver.
Mercieca initially denied these claims, but later said he was working to taper out his procedures, so as to end all his operations by September.
He will still be offering his services for free on Sundays at Mater Dei Hospital, and at Gozo General Hospital during a time yet to be announced. This is being done so he can perform the operations only he can provide locally, namely phakic implants and cornea cross-linking operations. It will also help with the backlog of other surgeries.
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Skuzawni kelli lapsus. Ridt nghid Kodici tal-Etika.
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Ma kienux jafu jikluha tajjeb in-Nazzjonalisti, eh? Dik Etika tal-Kodici ,eh? Ghal gvern laburisti tezisti u ghalihom le. Ara ghal haddiema fid-Dar Centrali m'ghandhomx flus!
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We demand to know the whole picture and full facts re the alleged contract to a former PN minister so that we can form our own ethical judgement. We are as citizens fed up of seeing the pot call the kettle black and viceversa as it suits the political occasion and circumstances. What we look forward to as ordinary citizens is the time when we can see both the kettle and the pot transparenty nd ethically clear.
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Mhux sew li l-Prim-Ministru hu min hu jitfa dubju fuq ex-ministri, sa fejn naf jien dawn il-politici kienu kollha gwappi u jghidu li kienu puri,
u mhux minnu li kien jiksru l-etitka morali.
Paul Sammut •
SimPN is in disarray. It's kicking, screaming and raising hullabaloo same as a toddler who has lost his lolly pop.
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Very sorry Mr Prime Minister but one has to say that Malta is back in 1996 when the PN used to say "INTOM, i.e. PL, FIL-GVERN IMMA AĦNA, i.e. PN, NIKKMANDAW".
Emmanuel Mallia •
The opposition is trying to deviate the public attention from the artificial, unrealistic, PN defeat report !!
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This is all jealousy as athe Timea ke mentioining that Mercieca is earning euro 3600. Whye the Times never mentioned not only how much several PN mininisters earned in 25 years of lecturing and how much time they spent away from their ministries to give lectures. Oh but Simon said that this was for the good of the students! And what about patients? Well maybe the Times editor will be given the Gieh Ir Republika in 15 yrs time if ever Pn will be back in power like the former editor.
Priscilla Darmenia •
My advice to Franco Mercieca: – You have done you share to help the PL get to power. 5 years will pass like a dream and no one is sure if the PL will be elected again the next time round. You may be elected again as a member of parliament but then in opposition and you have to revert to your profession. You have a very specialized field that you need constant practice. Remember the Maltese saying – “haga titlaqa, titilqek”. A PS position is prestigious, even more a ministerial position, but at the end of the day your profession is most prestigious. If I were you, I would give up the PS position and continue with the private practice. As part of the PL team, you can always advice government what should and should not be done.
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Dr Franco Mercieca is an excellent eye surgeon and if you do not know, when you stop practicing such minute surgical operations you lose the touch. So Dr Mercieca while willing to contribute to the political situation prevailing in MALTA cannot abandon his life-long career as an ophthalmic surgeon to help our fellow citizens. So jcv should stop barking like a dog and get some sense in his head that sick people, especially those that are in risk of losing their sight have rights too. I am sure that if you were in a similar situation you would have been barking differently.
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If someone thinks that by doing this stupid and senseless attack on Dr Mercieca, he has gained some political mileage with the unbiased man out there, he is so wrong. From my perspective as a floating voter I see this as nothing more as using politics or political influence in order to get a professional advantage or vice versa. We the people are not that stupid!
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Come on please are all of us maltese suffering from loss of memory ? ask who ever you want and someone will say that he can remember most of the previous PN ministers still kept on doing their private practices especially the doctors.please lets keep focused on the best interests of our country and not fall for these PN baby tactics of bad loosers.
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I taught lara with her detailed questions will also challenge the PM for more information about this new surfaced revelation of this ex PN minister who had this consultancy contract with your PN Government Company in his own name. We will expect from you now asking for more detailed clarifications about this case.This will tell us how genuine is your hysterical situation.
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Mr Prime Minister. No amount of excuses and beating about the bush, will ever change the fact that you were wrong - admit it if you are man enough.
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Sewwa Simon naqtghu l'...., biex ninku lil Muscat! U issa dawk li se ikollhom isifru barra kollha se jivvotawlek ghal bravura li ghamilt!
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@Lara. Veru l-poplu hemm barra huwa 'hysterical' u bir-ragun. Ma tistax twaqqaf lil xi hadd milli jaghmel tant gid lil pazjenti li jafdaw lilu biss minhabba kodici ta etika skaduta. Dr Mercieca se jkompli jopera xi gurnata jew tnejn, imma dan par idejn ghandu, ma jistax jaghmel il-konsulenza u jopera f'jumejn biss. Dan jew ihalluh jahdem kif suppost jew il-poplu ghandu juri l-ghadab tieghu, ghax mhux sewwa tarmi t-talenti ta xi hadd li l-poplu huwa mejjet ghalihom.
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If Franco Mercieca is that critical to patients he should resign as a PS - it really is THAT simple. Either he wants to be a PS or he wants to be a surgeon - he cannot hold down two full time jobs. Why is it that difficult to understand?
Also, what is this game being played by the PM - if he has a name then let us have it. He is a coward that throws mud knowing that some will stick. He is the PM now not the leader of the Opposition but he plays the politics game like he is in opposition - bunch of amateurs who drive around in old cars falling apart to pocket the allowance!
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Either be a doctor or a have a life in politics.
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Mela Franco Mercieca ghandu jlaqqat dejjem. Meta habbar li se jikkontesta mal-PM ittiehidlu l-pass tal-Gozo Channel. Min bata? Mhux Mercieca imma l-pazjenti. Issa gie mgieghel iwarrab il-professjoni tieghu mhabba kodici ta etika antikwat ta EFA u li kienet thares id-dritt ta l-avukati biss. (sa fejn naf jien kienet taghti dritt lil avukati li jaghtu lectures fl-universita - insomma tistenniha minn partit ta l-avukati). Min se jbati issa. Jerga l-pazjent. Prim Ministru, thallix lil poplu jbati minhabba l-mibgheda ta haddiehor, ghax din mibgheda u ghira u xejn izjed.
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Can MaltaToday please clarify the situation - is Mercieca stopping ALL surgery or is it just his private practice?
Because towards the end of this article it says that Mercieca will still be working for free at Mater Dei and in Gozo.
So if he will still work at both hospitals, patients should not really be suffering, contrary to what the PM has stated. Actually by giving up all his private work, Mercieca should have MORE time to carry out surgery at the PUBLIC hospitals as well as be PS.
Also this claim that a patient has to go abroad just because Mercieca is giving up his private work, should be investigated. If Mercieca is still offering his services at Mater Dei, why can't he do the procedure on this patient at Mater Dei?
I think clarification is necessary because people are getting hysterical out there.
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Dear Prime Minister,the people need Mr.Mercieca to perform operations.We only care about our health.
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Change the Code of Ethics. We cannot waste such talent just to satisfy those who did not respect the Code of Ethics when they were in power.
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Will someone out there help me understand. On the one hand we have the prime minister saying to the affect: Franco Mercieca has agreed to stop with immediate effect and because of this it will be affecting at least one patient to get his intervention he has to go abrod. Later it is say his doctor service will be offered for free at Mater Dei and Gozo General Hospitals. This is really baffling! Is he in or is he out?. If this able Dr. is still offering his service why Mr. Prime Minister we have a patient going to go broad?
After all even if one person is to suffer we all should be out there to help.
