Ramona Attard, the fiery former One journalist, has relinquished her role as head of secretariat for parliamentary secretary Ian Borg, but not her pay.

The role of head of secretariat entails a financial package of €30,668, grade four on the civil service scale.

Speaking to the Malta Independent Online, Ms Attard confirmed that she will now be taking up employment with the ministry for home affairs and national security as a communications coordinator. 

The role of communications coordinator usually involves a pay ranging from €21,000 to €25,000, but a government spokesperson confirmed that Ms Attard will in fact be retaining the 30k package she enjoyed as a head of secretariat.

Asked why, the government spokesperson said that Ms Attard will be assigned additional tasks over and above her official role as communications coordinator.

Manuel Mallia’s ministry had been without a communications coordinator for close to two months, with chief of staff Silvio Scerri functioning as the main point of contact with the media.