This Thursday, the government said “there is not necessarily any overlap” between Sergio Figueiredo’s functions in the Ministry of Finance and other public services, adding that the powers of the Court of Accounts are “fully retained” to oversee the contract.
At the “briefing” of the Council of Ministers, Secretary of State for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers André Moz Caldas was asked whether it was necessary for the Ministry of Finance to hire the former administrator of the EDP Foundation, Sergio Figueireda. as a strategic advisor, given that the Center for Public Administration Planning, Policy and Forecasting (PlanAPP), established in 2021, performs the same functions.
In his response, Andre Moz Caldas emphasized that this competence center is “implemented, operating, dealing with issues of strategic planning, prospects and evaluation of public policy in general, in the context of management, in particular with regard to the development of main strategic documents, what are the main options or what does it look like national program of reforms within the framework of the European Semester”.
The Secretary of State also emphasized that PlanAPP “coordinates a planning network, the so-called REPLAN, which brings together a set of organizations, bodies or industry representatives in terms of planning, forecasting and evaluating public policies that exist in other areas of government.” .
“Which means that the creation of PlanAPP does not exhaust the possibilities of activities in these areas, at the industry level, in each of the government areas, and therefore not necessarily duplicating the activities of this service and any other representatives of the sector in this matter or employees from various government areas in the same areas,” he said.
When asked whether, given the appeals filed, Sergio Figueiredo’s contract should be checked by the Accounts Chamber, Moz Caldas replied that “all the powers of the Accounts Chamber and other control institutions have obviously been retained.”
“In the case of the Court of Accounts, in the field of concomitant and subsequent verification that can be constantly carried out in relation to this and any contract concluded by ministries or state administrative institutions. Thus, these powers are fully preserved,” he stressed..
When asked if the government would take the initiative to request this inspection, Moz Kaldas replied: “Will the government take the initiative in this matter, this is a matter that has not yet been sufficiently considered and does not belong to the collegial aspect of the collegial action of the government, and therefore it is not for me to you reply”.
To another question, if this review does not depend on the collective actions of the government, whether the Ministry of Finance should request it, Moz Kaldas replied that “usually the actions of the Accounts Chamber are not carried out upon request.” .
“Therefore, it seems to me that it would be very untimely to dwell on this issue. The court is competent, it will take the measures it wants and should do it without anyone’s interference,” he said.
The Público newspaper reported on Tuesday that the Ministry of Finance has hired former TVI information director and former EDP fund administrator Sergio Figueireda as a strategic consultant to assess and monitor the impact of government policies.
According to the newspaper, this contract was concluded by direct agreement, and Sergio Figueiredo will receive a gross salary equivalent to the minister’s monthly salary, which corresponds to 4,767 euros. Sergio Figueiredo will take up his duties on July 29.
In this Thursday’s edition, the newspaper Público indicates that, according to Sergio Figueiredo’s draft contract published by the Ministry of Finance, the former administrator will receive 139,990 gross euros over two years, equivalent to 5,832 monthly incomes. 4767 were originally reported.
The ministry supervised by Fernando Medina confirmed to Público the recruitment of Sergio Figueiredo, saying that the former journalist will “provide advisory services in the development, implementation and monitoring of public policies, including consultations with stakeholders in the Portuguese economy, as well as the evaluation and monitoring of the same policies. “.
The newspaper also said that Sergio Figueiredo’s contract will run for two years and the former journalist will “help design and develop the public policy of Fernando Medina’s ministry, as well as monitor its implementation and real-time perception of what stakeholders are of them.” “.
Born in 1966, Sergio Figueiredo was once director of Diário Económico and Jornal de Negócios and also worked for the RTP2 TV channel. From 2007 to 2014 he was Director of Fundação EDP and from 2015 to 2020 he was Chief Information Officer of TVI.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
