Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said this evening that the decision for Chris Cardona’s Chief of Staff to refund over €300 spent on drinks during a trip to Dubai was “mature” and that there was no reason for the official to resign.

Last week, a report by the Auditor General revealed how €756 were spent on alcohol by a delegation comprising Economy Minister Chris Cardona, his Chief of Staff Mario Azzopardi and the minister’s personal assistant Dana Bonnici during an official visit to Dubai last year. €318 was spent on drinks from a mini-bar. The government said in a statement earlier today that this amount was billed to the chief of staff's room and will be refunded. It did not say if the rest of the amount would be refunded.

Replying to questions by this paper, Dr Muscat said the NAO had not described this as a case of misuse of public funds. “The money is being refunded. This is a mature choice,” Dr Muscat said, adding that he was not pleased by what had happened.

The Prime Minister said it would have been better had this case never happened.

Asked if he was worried by the fact that the spend on alcohol was caught in a sample investigation, Dr Muscat said this was how investigations were carried out, given the resources available. “If we had more resources we would start by investigating all travel by the previous administration.”

Dr Muscat said the government always took NAO investigations “Lock, stock and barrel” and acted on them, unlike the Opposition, which ignored the investigations that criticised it.

Asked if the Dubai case was closed, the Prime Minister replied that the people always decide whether a case is closed or not. 

Money spent on alcohol during Minister Cardona's Dubai visit to be refunded.

The money spent on an alcohol bill by an Economy Ministry delegation including minister Chris Cardona during a trip to Dubai will be refunded, the ministry said in a statement

The bill amounted to €756, of which €318 was spent on drinks from the mini-bar. The €318 will now be refunded.

In a statement, the ministry said it respected the evaluations of the auditor general, and the amount which was billed to the chief of staff's room will be refunded.

The ministry said that its officials "always carried out their duties in the best way possible and in full respect towards public finances".

Drunk government - PN

In a statement, the Nationalist Party said that the government changed its tune on the incident.

After the matter was revealed, Dr Cardona needed to find a way to defend his irresponsible behaviour. First he said that alcohol is expensive and now he is saying that it was consumed solely by his chief of staff.

Try as he might, Cardona cannot put the blame solely on his chief of staff. First of all, he was there with him and, secondly, the man in question is also his business partner.

While Cardona spent €756 on alcohol, some families do not earn so much in one month, the PN said.

In another statement after the PM's description of the refund decision as "mature", the PN said that the Prime Minister has lost all moral authority.

Muscat is saying that it is "mature to steal and give the money back". This is the kind of mentality that Muscat has brought about, the PN said.