Taiwan People’s Party caucus whip Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) today questioned the Ministry of Labor’s use of the Employment Security Fund on media promotion, calling for the National Audit Office to conduct a special audit and Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) to provide an explanation.
The media promotion budget for the fund has been increasing annually, rising from NT$119 million (US$3.66 million) in 2022 to an anticipated NT$217 million next year, Huang said.
The fund once spent NT$10 million to produce an eight-minute video, which only received 130,000 views, he said.
Photo: Taipei Times
Since 2020, the ministry has spent NT$7 million to NT$10 million to produce videos for Labor Day, Huang said.
Last year, the ministry spent NT$1.15 million on a news conference for its relocation and NT$480,000 to produce a video of the relocation ceremony, which only received 477 views, he said.
In 2019, Formosa Television, ERA News and SET News received more than NT$23 million from the ministry’s projects, which surged to NT$44 million this year, he said.
Huang accused officials of using the fund to “support green media and promote the Democratic Progressive Party’s international propaganda.”
A thorough review of the fund’s use has been ongoing over the past few weeks, Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) said.
Concrete methods to strengthen oversight of the fund would be proposed within one month, including making its use more regulated and transparent, he said.
The fund has played an important role for many years to support the unemployed, employment services and vocational training, spanning different administrations and political parties, he said.
While the fund’s expenditures need to be reviewed, many unions and organizations still greatly need the fund’s support, he added.
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