General Workers Union was chosen to operate the Community Work Scheme because they had the best offer. Speaking to the press following a press conference which launched the National Sills Council, the Minister, accompanied by Jobs Plus Chairman Clyde Caruana, said that GWU participated in the tender together with two other bidders.

"This whole issue arose simply because the winning bid was presented by GWU," Mr Caruana explained.

Reports in the media claimed that GWU would be earning €8.5 million from the scheme.

Mr Caruana explained that the process was transparent and as fair as possible. "When we came to open the envelopes with the tender proposals, we had the three bidders sitting in front of us. We left the envelope containing the cost last, so that we would not be influenced by the price."

"When I came to ETC four years ago and asked about this scheme, the results were not satisfactory," he explained. The scheme is part of the government's plan to have equal pay for equal work. But Minister Evarist Bartolo said that there is not fixed timeline for this process to be completed.