De Marco, Giglio and Bencini top earners among PN MPs

An exercise carried out by The Shift based on the tax declarations of MPs in 2023 shows that the majority of Opposition MPs would be much worse off financially if their party were to be elected and a future prime minister asked them to form part of cabinet.

MPs such as Mario de Marco, Joe Giglio and Graham Bencini would face a significant reduction in income if appointed ministers at a salary that is less than €60,000 a year.

The analysis followed another on Labour MPs published last week that showed that backbenchers earned more than ministers because they were allowed to retain their professional work.

The findings point to the need for reform. While the issue has been raised repeatedly, no administration has tackled the remuneration of those in office.

The problem has led to accusations that the two main parties are in the pockets of big business, leading to corruption.

In the PN’s case, de Marco, Giglio and Bencini would appear to lose the most in terms of income if they were appointed ministers.

Assuming that MPs declared all their taxable income in 2023, the analysis shows that MPs’ incomes would significantly drop if they became ministers.

Former minister de Marco declared earning over €339,000 in 2023, by far the highest declared earner among all members of parliament on both sides of the House.

De Marco manages a legal office in Valletta and would lose almost €275,000 a year if he had to be elected again and appointed minister. His extra income to a ministerial pay would be some €66,000 a year from leasing various properties he owns.

The same applies to criminal lawyer Joe Giglio, who entered the political ring in the last general elections.

Once elected and having to give up his profession, Giglio would have to forgo the €200,000 a year he declared earning from his legal office. As a minister, his extra income would be the €36,000 he earns from rent.

Currently, rules permit both lawyers to keep their offices running while other lawyers or family members take over.

This has been known to lead to problems as every administration has ignored the fact that clients still seek the offices of government MPs for personal favours even if the issues are dealt with by staff. This practice continues, but the prime minister continues to ignore the problem.

While it can be argued that both de Marco and Giglio are at a later stage of their careers and may afford to retire and dedicate the last few years of their working lives to politics, the situation is much more complicated for some of the PN’s new and young MPs.

Graham Bencini, an accountant still in his late 40s and with a young family, will see his income slashed by more than €200,000 a year if given a ministerial post.

MP Ian Vassallo Hagi, 31, a podiatrist, will have to forget the €120,000 he is making from his profession.

Businessman Ivan Bartolo’s income will also be significantly reduced. He declared earning over €118,000 in 2023.

An MP earns €24,000 a year when in opposition. This affects the younger politicians elected to parliament, such as Bernice Bonello and Eve Borg Bonello, who declared earning less than €17,000 in 2023. This was based on their 2022 earnings when they were not yet MPs for the entire year.

Both political parties have committed to reform. The Labour Party promised to address the issue in 2013 but no changes were implemented.

Opposition leader Bernard Grech recently said he agreed with introducing state party financing and increasing politicians’ financial packages. No details were given.