AR approved hearing of current and former ministers and providers of Santa Casa de Lisboa

The current and former Ministers of Labor, the exonerated ombudsman of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa Ana Jorge or the previous ombudsman Edmundo Martinho will be heard in parliament after the respective hearings have been approved.

The hearings were approved this Thursday by the Labor, Social Security and Inclusion Committee, following requests presented by the Liberal Initiative (IL), Socialist Party (PS) and Chega, the first two approved unanimously, the last with abstention from Livre.

In this way, the hearings were approved, as a matter of urgency, of the current minister of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security, Maria do Rosário Ramalho, of her predecessor Ana Mendes Godinho, of the exonerated provider of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa Ana Jorge and of the his predecessor Edmundo Martinho.

In addition to these four, the committee also approved the hearing of the former Secretary of State for Internationalization, Eurico Brilhante Dias — currently deputy in the Assembly of the Republic and president of the Committee on Labor, Social Security and Inclusion — and the former deputy ombudsman of SCML Ana Vitória Azevedo, and the former administrators of Santa Casa Global Ricardo Gonçalves and Francisco Pessoa e Costa.

Requests for an urgent hearing arose after the dismissal of SCML provider Ana Jorge and all members of the Board on April 30, so that the financial situation of the institution and the impact of investments for the internationalization of games can be clarified. social.

The Government dismissed the ombudsman and members of the Board, with immediate effect, and justified the decision with “seriously negligent actions” that affected the management of the institution.

Subsequently, in a letter sent to all workers, Ana Jorge accused the Government of having dismissed her in a “rude, arrogant and slanderous manner” and that she was taken by surprise.

Ana Jorge took office on May 2, 2023, chosen by the previous socialist government of António Costa, and inherited an institution with serious financial difficulties, after years of pandemic and a process of internationalization of social games, carried out by the administration of provider Edmundo Martinho, which may have caused losses of around 50 million euros.