Eurobarometer shows 70% of citizens are ‘satisfied’ with Malta’s public service

70% of citizens are satisfied with the way public service in Malta is given, outgoing chief Mario Cutajar said on Friday.

Speaking at a conference for Public Service Week 2022, titled Investing in Quality, Cutajar said that the public service in Malta is at its strongest as it has ever been, despite the Covid-19 crisis.

Cutajar said that despite this, the public service sector will continue to be improved and strengthened, and the work has commenced to achieve this. The aim is to have an excellent service with an implemented strategy, he said.

“The implementation of the strategy will have the potential to continue to better the public service to a seamless one, one which is not inconvenient for whoever uses it,” Cutajar said.

Forty-five measures will be implemented into the strategy Achieving a service of excellence, 18 of which focus on the quality of the service, inter alia with the help of artificial intelligence, Cutajar said. Seventeen measures will concentrate on a sustainability, with the setting up of a central registry, remote-working and the acknowledgement of experience for career improvement, while 10 measures would be for accountability, a pillar that cannot be ignored, which now takes on new importance with an increased use of data, Cutajar said.

Cutajar said that the public service sector will have discussions with the University of Malta this month so that Doctorates in the public service will be introduced.

Cutajar said that the public service is centred on the people and criticisms should also be taken by the people. He also said that the approval rating for public service in Malta is the highest in the region, as well as higher than certain countries which are at the forefront of the European Union.

He added that the “economy and the country cannot make great progress if the public service is not a machine that performs and implements, that solves difficulties instead of creating them, that prepares the right climate for people to live better in every aspect of their lives”.

Prime Minister Robert Abela also addressed the event, saying that major changes and radical transformations have been done in this sector.

He said that there was an investment without precedence towards the people, technology and the quality of the public service, which has been an issue of controversy in the past.

Abela said that “investment in human resources, tools and technology will continue as prudence does not mean refraining from investing as much as necessary, but spending where necessary”.

He thanked the public service for its efforts in the public’s interest and for the delivery of the best possible service.

Abela also thanked Cutajar for his work in the public service, after Cutajar announced his retirement at the same event.