The government spent at least €1.6 million to host this year's Public Service Expo. This is nearly a million euro more than the alleged cost of last year's Public Service Expo, according to Prime Minister Robert Abela 13 months ago, which this newsroom recently debunked to have cost at least an additional €170,000.

This year's Public Service Expo costs a minimum of €1,605,155.14. This sum was calculated by amalgamating the totals divulged by ministers as they answered parliamentary questions.

Stands set up by all ministries, the Office of the Prime Minister, and entities falling under their jurisdiction totalled to €1,219,932.14.

If one had to exclude the OPM's costs, then the total sum of taxpayer money spent on stands by ministries and their entities added up to €1,038,966.14. This means that on average, each of today's ministries forked out €69,264 on stands at this year's Public Service Expo.

Including the OPM and Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi's EU funds portfolio, which at the time, fell under the Prime Minister's Office list of competences, this average expenditure increases to €71,760.

These sums also include within them the expenditure any and all participating Parliamentary Secretariats. The remaining circa €400,000 stems from a stand set up by the Government Printing Press and the Department of Information (€65,220) as well as the cost for the Public Service Expo's main park and Public Service Hub (€320,003).

Since this year's Public Service Expo was organised in late May, PN MP Claudette Buttigieg has been asking each minister if their respective ministries (and entities that fall under their jurisdiction) participated in this year's Expo, and if so, how much taxpayer money was spent.

On 20 June 2025, The Malta Independent revealed that 10 ministries spent over €690,000 on their stands at this year's Expo. This information was collected from members of Cabinet themselves as they responded to parliamentary questions requested by PN MP Claudette Buttigieg on this expenditure.

It was previously reported that 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).

Fast-forward almost a fortnight later and this parliamentary question (PQ) has been answered by all Ministers.

Since then, we have learned the ministerial stand under Michael Falzon's remit cost €47,375, that Anton Refalo's ministerial stand cost €58,345, Miriam Dalli published her ministry's expenditure at €97,158, Jo Etienne Abela shared a total cost of €54,150 from the Health Ministry, and the stand designated for the Ministry for Finance and its respective entities cost taxpayers €91,264.47. These five totals add up to €348,292.47.

The Ministry for Environment, Energy and Public Cleanliness produced the costliest stand, according to available data at just short of €100,000 spent.

Miriam Dalli said that the activities at this stand featured the participation of 11 connected departments and entities. Other attractions at this site included a green wall, a pop-up park, a mini greenhouse, and the WSC Water Buggy. She added that a website for botanical gardens was also launched during the Expo.

Dalli stated that her Ministry's interactive stand was designed to be attract "a diverse audience," though youths were the main focus. The stand featured virtual reality experiences, interactive exhibitions, energy-generating bicycles, 3-D models of projects, and a variety of games and demonstrations, all to inform the public on the areas under her Ministry's responsibility, she said.

Meanwhile, Clyde Caruana noted that his ministry's €91,264.47 expenditure - which was the next largest expenditure reported amongst the ministers (excluding the Prime Minister for the OPM) - was used to fund live podcasts which were broadcast by the Malta Tax and Customs Administration (MTCA) and the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA). These podcasts were themed around notable and hot topics pertaining to each respective entity. The entities also provided advice to passersby.

On top of the €348,292.47 from these five ministries, The Prime Minister shared that his Office had a stand at this May's Public Service Expo for itself and all entities falling under it, including the respective Parliamentary Secretariats for Social Dialogue and for Equality and Reforms.

Prime Minister Abela said that this "activity," which involved 13 entities, cost nearly double Dalli's stand: €180,966. This included Fondi Ewropej, which has since become Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi's main ministerial competence since the Cabinet's mini-reshuffle in late May, just after the Public Service Expo culminated.

Additionally, he stated that the Government Printing Press and the Department of Information had a stand of their own costing €65,220. This stand showed historical footage from the DOI's archives as a cinema and allowed the public to take photographs and have them printed on the spot.

Prime Minister Robert Abela also informed Buttigieg that the Expo's main park and Public Service Hub cost taxpayers €320,003 this year.

In his parliamentary response, the Prime Minister said that "the Expo serves as a showcase for active government services as a means to attract the best talents to public administration."

That being said, the number of registered full-time workers in the public sector has risen by 12.25% between December 2018 and December 2024 - from 47,687 workers to 53,529 people employed by the public sector over this six-year span. This covers 18% of the entire Maltese workforce, as this newsroom published earlier this May.

During this past interview, the effective head of the Maltese public sector, OPM Principal Permanent Secretary Tony Sultana, rebuked that the public sector is bloated with government workers. This sentiment was also carried by GWU's Secretary General, Josef Bugeja.

In contrast, the President of the Malta Chamber of Commerce, William Spiteri Bailey, had described the public sector as being "bloated beyond what is required." Similarly, the President of the Malta Employers' Association, Ivan Refalo, had told this newsroom that the public sector's demand to recruit more people is oftentimes creating unhealthy competition with private employers. On behalf of the MEA, Refalo acknowledged that the public sector is growing due to the increase in the country's population and was coyer on whether it should downsize in every area.

This year's Public Service Expo was hosted between 21 May and 25 May at the MFCC in Ta' Qali. It hosted 76,264 visitors, including approximately 12,000 students; 2024's Public Service Expo attracted around 55,000 people.