Please permit me to correct the impression given by Joe Aquilina in his letter Ministers (TMID, 20 May) about the composition of the Italian Cabinet.

This consists of 25 key Cabinet posts (eight without portfolio and 17 with portfolio) accompanied by an army of undersecretaries numbering more than a hundred.

This excludes the prime minister and the two vice-prime ministers. This is just for the record.

Carmel Camilleri

Paola