Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1382687
5 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 13 JUNE 2021 davidcasa.eu The newly approved European Funds will directly benefit families, workers, youth, and children, as well as businesses, persons with disabilities, local councils and NGOs, with funds administered by your Government. Successfully negotiated €90 billion in EU funds Approved! €90 Billion ESF+ Fund NEWS NICOLE MEILAK FORMER Prime Minister Jo- seph Muscat's termination pack- age saw him receive €120,000, the equivalent of two years of the prime minister's salary. The data was requested by The Shift News, which Muscat however accused of omitting references to directly-deducti- ble tax that saw him being paid €78,000 after paying €41,633 in taxes. Muscat published the sums paid out to former country leaders and ministers in ter- minal benefits and allowances, in a social media riposte to the press reports on the €120,000 allowance. He said he had requested the details of the answers provid- ed by the OPM to The Shift, which had not been published. Specifically, Muscat pointed out that he was paid a one-time sum of €120,128 less €41,633 in tax, of which he was ultimate- ly paid €78,495. "I renounced a transitional allowance paya- ble for the time spent as Prime Minister and leader of the Op- position from 2008 to 2020." He then said that his prede- cessor, prime minister Law- rence Gonzi, was paid a sum of €72,901 and a transitional allowance of €8,737, for a total of €81,638. The former Opposition lead- er, Simon Busuttil, was paid €23,371 for serving four years as Opposition leader. He also said former prime minister Eddie Fenech Adami's former head of secretariat, Richard Cachia Caruana, was paid €179,931 tax-free despite not being an elected official but a person of trust. "He was also paid €36,453 as 'notice' after being voted down in a no-con- fidence motion in parliament, and €39,549 for vacation leave he never claimed, for a total of €255,933." Muscat said he was treated no differently from Gonzi or Busuttil when he was still paid his MP's honorarium after stepping down as Prime Minis- ter and serving as a backbench- er. "There's nothing secret in all this, having also submitted my declaration of assets as an MP." The payment to Muscat is part of the Terminal and Tran- sitional Benefit scheme, intro- duced by the Nationalist government in 2004. All Prime Ministers, Minis- ters, Parliamentary Sec- retaries and Opposition Leaders are entitled to this benefit upon termination of their employ- ment. The calcula- tions of this benefit were presented in a 2008 document after being tabled in Parlia- ment by Prime Minister Law- rence Gonzi, but it is unknown whether the schedule has been updated since then. Prime Ministers are entitled to a ter- minal benefit that is equivalent to a month's salary for every year of continuous service in the post. However, a minimum benefit is in place equivalent to six months' salary. In fact, the prime minister's annual salary stands at €56,880 with additional allowances and a €441 cash payment, accord- ing to 2019 figures. The Transitional Allowance is a monthly salary payable for three years after the termi- nation of employment. Since Muscat spent just under seven years as Prime Minister, his Transitional Allowance would have granted him 55% of the salary and benefits he had when he resigned, or €104,187 across three years. nmeilak@mediatoday.com.mt Muscat: 'I renounced transitional allowance and paid tax on termination' 'Golden handshakes' Joseph Muscat €78,000 Opposition leader 2008, Prime Minister 2013-2020 Simon Busuttil €23,371 Opposition leader 2013-2017 Lawrence Gonzi €81,638 Prime Minister 2004-2013 Richard Cachia Caruana €255,000 Former permanent repre- sentative to the EU, for- mer head of secretariat to Eddie Fenech Adami Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was paid a one-time termination benefit of €120,000 before tax