Finance Minister Tonio Fenech expressed surprise at comments by Labour MP Helena Dalli, who denied in a statement that she knew that the government intended to privatise the Malta Shipyards, alleging this had been stated by Mr Fenech in Parliament.

Ms Dalli seemed not to have read the ministerial statement or followed what the minister said in parliament. He had at no time said that a report Ms Dalli had received, as spokesman for the shipyard, referred to privatisation.

But, Mr Fenech added, Ms Dalli could not deny what he had said at the 2 July sitting, when he pointed out that the opposition knew that for the shipyard to achieve its aims there had to be a downsizing of the workforce.

The opposition had been informed of this in a report which the shipyard chairman, John Cassar White, had formally passed on to the opposition at the 13 July, 2007 meeting. The report stated, on page 7, that to achieve the aims of the business plan they had to cut costs by reducing the number of workers.