Ira Losco being paid €417 per social post promoting Project Green

Singer Ira Losco is being paid €417 each time she publishes a post on her Facebook and Instagram social media pages promoting the government’s Project Green.

Despite criticism over her supporting the greenwashing political initiative against payment, Losco this week continued promoting the gardens and parks being refurbished by Project Green by posting photographs of her and her children enjoying them, as required by her contract.

But following a report filed with the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life by independent politician Arnold Cassola, the local celebrity has stopped tagging Environment Minister Miriam Dalli and Project Green CEO and prospective Labour MEP candidate Steve Ellul.

She is now instead including a link to the ministry’s official website.

A copy of Losco’s one-page contract obtained by The Shift through a freedom of information request shows that Losco has been contracted by the government as a social media influencer for six months.

According to the contract, she is obliged to post photos of herself with members of her family, particularly her two children, twice a month at different Project Green parks as directed by the agency.

She is also contracted to attend a Project Green promotional activity once a month, although only her presence is required and she is not obliged to speak.

The only condition is that she makes an appearance with her family.

For her efforts, Project Green is paying the singer €5,000 for six months.

In correspondence seen by The Shift, the singer told Project Green that she normally charges €6,000 for such work but has agreed to give Project Green a €1,000 discount.

Losco’s engagement was directly approved by Ellul just nine minutes after she sent him her proposal.

While Ellul would normally need approval for the disbursement of public funds, he gave orders to proceed with Losco’s proposal just minutes, nine to be precise, after receiving it on 12 April, according to documentation seen by The Shift.

Both Ellul and Dalli are taking full advantage of the €700 million greenwashing project unveiled by the government before the last elections.

The Shift has already reported how Prime Minister Robert Abela has received protests from sitting Labour MEPs – in particular Cyrus Engerer and Alex Agius Saliba – who have accused Ellul of using public funds for his personal publicity ahead of an expected run for MEP.

His Project Green CEO posting, they say, is being leveraged to boost his chances of electoral success.

The former banker was put on the government payroll by Dalli and is paid more than €90,000 a year.

Ellul has been blitzing the media with interviews, appearances and paid adverts – funded directly from Project Green’s lucrative budget.