Ten ministries spent just over €690,000 on stands at this year's Public Service Expo, information tabled in Parliament shows.

The information emerged from responses to Parliamentary Questions that PN MP Claudette Buttigieg asked. No information as to the expenditure of the other ministries has yet been published.

The expenditure of these ten ministries on stands for the 2025 expo was higher than what Prime Minister Robert Abela had said was the total cost of the 2024 Public Service Expo. On 11 June 2024, Prime Minister Robert Abela stated that the Public Service Expo in 2024 cost a total of €680,840.38. He had said that nearly half a million euros went towards funding stands and merchandise, just under €100,000 was used on advertising, almost €80,000 went towards hospitality, and another circa €17,000 was spent on office services, insurance, and health and safety.

Claudette Buttigieg put forward questions to all ministers on the costs of their respective ministerial stands in this year's Public Service Expo and also in 2024's. So far, 10 clear figures from a total of 17 ministries including the Office of the Prime Minister have been published.

This €690,000 sum related to the stands for the respective ministries of Ian Borg (€88,700 excluding VAT), Owen Bonnici (€80,545), Roderick Galdes (€46,357), Silvio Schembri (€66,950 excluding VAT), Julia Farrugia (€78,050), Clint Camilleri (€50,899.67), Byron Camilleri (€71,012), Clifton Grima (€91,050), Jonathan Attard (€64,135 excluding VAT), and Chris Bonett (€52,975).

The Ministry for Education's stand last month, falling under Minister Clifton Grima, so far, cost the most.

Grima said that his ministry's stand featured reading and writing sessions, science shows, educational talks and information sessions, health and safety sessions, the presence of local authors, a demonstration on 3-D printing, mock interviews and podcasts were held, assistance was offered to young people seeking assistance to apply for the gyms scheme, and general information was provided by FITA regarding services offered to people with disabilities.

The Education Minister added that his Ministry's activities in this year's Expo included the participation of the National Skills Council, the University of Malta, MCAST, Aġenzija Żgħażagħ, Esplora, FITA, SportMalta, the National Literacy Agency, the Digital Literacy and Transversal Skills Department, the Department of Scholarships, the Stipend Department, the Department of Lifelong Learning, as well as the Human Resources Department from within the Ministry.

The ministry that spent the least on its stand from the information shared so far (€46,357) was the Ministry for Social and Affordable Accommodation, which falls under Minister Roderick Galdes.

In 2024, these 10 ministries spent a total of €501,169 between them, according to the responses they gave in Parliament, equating to an increase of nearly €200,000 on their Expo stands this year. This €501,169 figure was calculated using the totals submitted in response to Buttigieg's PQs made last year, and not from the Prime Minister's response on the costs of the 2024 Public Service Expo.

The costs for the stands of this year's Expo belonging to the respective ministries of Michael Falzon, Anton Refalo, Miriam Dalli, Clyde Caruana, Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi, and Jo Etienne Abela have not yet been published. Last year, Falzon's Ministry spent €50,633.40 (on two stands), the Agriculture Ministry paid out €44,840, the Ministry for the Environment and Energy forked out €62,490, the Ministry for Finance spent €56,544, Zrinzo Azzopardi's Ministry expended €30,925 (excluding VAT), and the Health Ministry disbursed €43,365 on their respective stands.

Last year, PM Abela said that €490,781.04 went towards all stands and merchandise for the 2024 edition. However, when adding up the submitted costs by his Ministers last year for their ministerial stands in 2024, the costs for all ministerial stands (excluding the Office of the Prime Minister's stand) is higher, standing at €850,220.40.

Last year's €850,000 sum includes that of the Tourism Ministry (€60,245), which at the time fell under the remit of Clayton Bartolo.

This year's Public Service Expo was held between 21-25 May and was attended by 76,264 persons. Last year's Expo saw 55,000 visitors.