Prime Minister Robert Abela evaded answering a question on whether the public will be given the same payments on overtime work as he did when he was a lawyer for the Planning Authority.

Lovin Malta revealed on Wednesday that Abela had charged the PA for more than 1,400 hours of overtime work, in addition to the €3,000 per month received during his tenure, receiving up to €80,000 in the process.

The €80,000 payment covered overtime hours worked during May 2014 and November 2014; December 2014 and July 2015; September 2015 to July 2016; and January 2017, reports revealed.

Abela evaded the question, saying that the payments received as a lawyer for his firm were according to a public contract, and all payments were in line with the contract. Abela said that all taxes owed were paid fully.

“We gave the public more than that, we gave them €70 million worth of tax refund cheques as well as those addressing the higher cost of living,” Abela said.

Abela continued to say that Opposition Leader Bernard Grech has, in turn, failed to pay his due taxes, even when Grech was accommodating students in his home.