Ministry of Social Security analyzes deal made by the PS Government one day after the elections

The Ministry of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security is analyzing the validity of a deal made under the supervision of the previous minister. This involves the purchase of a headquarters for the Center for Economy and Social Innovation (CEIS), for 1.2 million euros. The deal took place the day after the March 10 elections.

If it is not stopped, CEIS da Guarda will be based on the ground floor of the building, on Avenida Rainha D. Amélia, close to the city hospital.

According to the seller, the promissory contract between the center and the seller was signed first, and only then did the board of directors approve the decision – precisely one day after the legislative elections.

A document to which SIC had access shows that the subject of acquiring the property was scheduled for a meeting on March 11, after the elections that dictated the shift to the right.

The purchase and sale contract worth 1.2 million euros was, therefore, prior to the formal decision to leave the current facilities, in the Social Security building in Guarda, and within 24 hours of the defeat of the socialist government .

There had already been works

The Center for Economy and Social Innovation’s mission is to train professionals from private social solidarity institutions and, right from its inception, in April 2023, it occupied the floor that housed the extinct State Secretariat for Social Action. It had been subject to requalification in 2021, with works costing approximately 340 thousand euros.

But in the end, it wasn’t enough. CEIS will move house, as soon as the purchase and sale deed is carried out. The seller of the property revealed to SIC that it is scheduled for this Tuesday, in Lisbon, at “Casa Pronta” counter.

When asked about the case, the president of CEIS confirms the date of the purchase decision, but says that the proposal was only accepted in January and that the promissory contract is from a later date.

“A prior market consultation was carried out(…). We chose the facilities that met the necessary criteria (…). The CEIS aims to train 13 thousand people by 2025(…), it currently has more than 3 hundred trainees in a face-to-face format, with the need to rent spaces”, states the president of CEIS, justifying the importance of the business.

Decision divided PS

The purchase of the property was even discussed at meetings of the Socialist Party, with a sector defending the partial acquisition of the Instituto de São Miguel, a private foundation of social solidarity, in the hands of the Church, which has been languishing since the State agreements with private education.

Some socialists understood that this helped the institution and the money remained in the so-called social economy. But the hypothesis did not pan out.

The Guarda Center for Economy and Social Innovation is one of 20 centers for participatory management training associated with the Institute for Employment and Professional Training (IEFP) that have financial and administrative autonomy.

The CEIS, based in Guarda through the work of the previous minister Ana Mendes Godinho, has more than 10 million euros for training and 1.4 million euros for the acquisition of properties.

SIC knows that the current Minister of Social Security, Rosário Palma Ramalho, is analyzing the deal, but has not yet commented. The predecessor, Ana Mendes Godinho, did not respond to contacts made by SIC.