Despite past denials on the part of the ministry, this newspaper has confirmed that Ronnie Pellegrini does actually serves as Chief of Staff at the Ministry for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties.

The answers to an unrelated Freedom of Information request filed with the ministry by this newspaper has revealed that Mr Pellegrini has been taken on as the ministry’s chief of staff on government salary Scale 3, i.e. at €35,500 a year. Mr Pellegrini, a former Lorry Sant acolyte, has also been employed as a director of the Malta Freeport Corporation.

The strange thing is that when this newspaper questioned the ministry last June about Mr Pellegrini’s employment at the ministry, all we were told was that Mr Pellegrini “is an official within the ministry’s secretariat where he advises on ministerial matters”.  The ministry did not answer our questions about his exact designation and whether he had first been appointed as the ministry’s chief of staff.

Mr Pellegrini’s appointment to the ministry was brought to light last June when the Department of Information listed him as the ministry’s new chief of staff, but the listing was quickly removed after the appointment hit the headlines.

Quizzed by this newspaper on camera last June, Minister Helena Dalli hadn’t been particularly forthcoming about Mr Pellegrini’s role in the ministry, simply saying that “he works in the secretariat”.

Pressed on what Mr Pellegrini’s job title was, Dr Dalli said there is a lot that needs doing in the secretariat, and Mr Pellegrini works as a secretariat officer.

Mr Pellegrini has a long and chequered history with the Labour Party, and was associated with a number of violent acts in the 1980s.

He went on to assume a role as a General Workers’ Union (GWU) section manager, before being seconded to the Labour Party in 2008 thanks to his close ties with then secretary general Jason Micallef, who now heads the V-18 Foundation.