Carmen Ciantar accepts pay cut in new CEO role… for now

While being given the new CEO post at a government entity that she lobbied for, Carmen Ciantar has been compelled to accept a substantial pay cut from her scandalous salary when she led the Foundation for Medical Services (FMS).

Ciantar was appointed to head the FMS when Chris Fearne was health minister. She was his canvasser and chief of staff while holding that position, for which she was paid €163,000 a year.

The Shift reported last May that Ciantar had been helping the Labour Party collect funds, raising tens of thousands of euro for the party in government. Meanwhile, she has been lobbying for a new CEO position after Fearne was replaced by Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela, who sacked her.

She has now been awarded a new CEO position at the competition authority (MCCAA). The Shift acquired her contract through a Freedom of Information request.

It shows she now earns a basic salary of €70,000 a year, which increases to approximately €95,000 when considering various allowances, including expenses, communications, a generous performance bonus, and a car. Ciantar has also been assigned a full-time driver.

Yet Ciantar has already topped up her CEO position. She is listed on the government’s internal directory as replacing the current Chair of the Authority, Helga Pizzuto, along with the honoraria related to this position.

Despite it being a done deal, the promotion still needs the approval of parliament. The Public Appointments Committee meets today.

Ciantar, a long-time Labour activist, has been connected to the government’s circle since 2013.

Shortly after Labour regained power that year, she began campaigning for disgraced former minister Konrad Mizzi, who appointed her as the CEO of ARMS Ltd.

She then switched to supporting Fearne, who gave her the position at the FMS for a salary of €163,000, revealed by The Shift. Her contract was deemed “irregular” by the Auditor General.

Following her sacking by Minister Jo Etienne Abela, she has made it back to the top brass in a government agency.