Meeting with the new Permanent Secretaries at the National Audit Office

This morning, we had a very cordial and useful introductory meeting with the four new Permanent Secretaries appointed recently, namely Mr Bartolo Keith, Mr Deguara Ramon, Ms Rocco Stephanie and Mr Vassallo Emil.

At the beginning of the meeting, I emphasised my firm conviction that the National Audit Office should nurture and develop a very good working relationship with the leadership of the public service. Indeed, experience has shown us that a relationship based on mutual respect and trust facilitates cooperation between auditor and auditees, ultimately resulting in fruitful and effective post-audit follow-up.  This would obviously lead to enhanced good governance across the public service, which constitutes our principal objective.

I also mentioned the fact that, unfortunately, sometimes the required information is not sent to us within acceptable timeframes, consequently causing futile delays in our Audit Plan. I thus made reference to the protocol on the timely submission of information to the NAO signed between the Principal Permanent Secretary, Mr Tony Sultana, and the Auditor General, Charles Deguara.

My colleagues, Mr William Peplow, Mr Stefano Manicolo and Ms Maressa Stivala then gave a brief albeit very informative overview of the work and assignments carried out within their respective Sections.  We also made reference to the NAO’s 2026 Audit Plan, mentioning those audits that pertain to their respective Ministries.

At the end of the meeting, both sides expressed their satisfaction at the spirit of collaboration in which this meeting was conducted, which augurs very well for the carrying out of future audits.