Mario de Marco was unnamed PN minister in Muscat’s ethics allegation

Mario de Marco is the former PN minister who Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said had a consultancy contract with a government company in his own name.

Although Muscat brought up the issue recently without naming de Marco, the former tourism minister's contract for consultancy services with Malta Enterprise was made public in 2005.

Speaking to MaltaToday, de Marco said that the contract dates back to 1991, when he was engaged by Malta Enterprise's precursor, the Malta External Trade Corporation (METCO).

Asked whether this consultancy work was a breach of the minister's code of conduct, de Marco said, "Upon being appointed as parliamentary secretary in 2008, I stopped my private practice as the code demands, and I have never set foot at Malta Enterprise since then."

Following the controversy surrounding Parliamentary Secretary Franco Mercieca, Muscat reiterated his assertion that a Nationalist minister had worked as a consultant with a government company in his own name while still in office.

This week Mercieca, an ophthalmic surgeon, agreed to stop all his surgical interventions with immediate effect, in spite of the limited waiver Muscat had issued to him.

"There is absolutely no comparison between the two cases. Franco Mercieca's problem is that he kept his private practice, while I stopped practising as a lawyer as long as I was a member of Cabinet," de Marco said.

He explained that he was awarded the contract, which in 1991 amounted to around €396 (Lm170) a month, after completing his post-graduate studies at the University of Cambridge in international trade law.

De Marco provided legal advice to METCO between 1990 and 2003 under both the PN and PL, and when Malta Enterprise took over the tasks and functions of METCO, it assumed the contract.

In 2004, de Marco, then still an MP, was awarded a three-year contract for consultancy services. He received €524 (Lm225) plus health insurance on a monthly basis and €70 (Lm30) for every additional hour beyond the fixed 12 hours.

The 2004 contract was automatically renewed in 2007, 2010 and 2013, in accordance with the stipulation that it be renewed every three years as long as Malta Enterprise does not decide to the contrary.

De Marco added that in 2004 he signed the contract because his firm is not a legal body, therefore the contract had to be physically signed by himself signed, and in such cases it is up to the client to break off the contract or relationship with a law firm if one of the firm's partners cannot continue to practise.

He added that upon being appointed junior minister he stopped practicing as a lawyer and since Malta Enterprise did not terminate the contract, the legal consultancy was taken over by Clint Calleja and Josette Grech who work at the legal firm.