New Justice Minister Carlo Nordio replied “prisons” on Thursday when asked by reporters what his priorities were as he arrived at an event at the Roma Tre University.

“The principle that punishment is certain means that sentences must be executed,” he continued at the event.

“But this does not mean that there is only prison and, above all, it does not mean having cruel or inhumane prisons, which would be against the Constitution and against Christian principles.

“An inmate must be helped to rehabilitate or, at least, to not become worse than when they enter prison.”

He said a lot could be achieved by boosting work and sporting activities within prisons.

He said his first official visits would not be to courts but to prisons that are in difficulty, saying this would be “symbolic”.

Nordio, an MP for Premier Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, is a former prosecutor who made his name fighting the Red Brigades leftist terrorists in the 70s and 80s.

He was also a lesser-known member of the Clean Hands team that brought down Italy’s political establishment in the early 1990s.

Business and Made in Italy Minister Adolfo Urso also said yesterday, that the government will not increase public borrowing to fund measures to help businesses cope with soaring costs and the difficult economic climate.

"We will not have budget deviations, certainly not for initiatives like this, which are linked to specific circumstances," Urso, a lawmaker for Premier Giorgia Meloni's Fratelli D’Italia (FdI) party, told Rai television.

The minister said the government was set to reinforce windfall tax measures on companies that have made extraordinary profits because of energy-price hikes.

"Energy is an emergency issue," he said at the Salone della Giustizia (justice fair) event.

"The government intends to better regulate the windfall measure.

"It will be one of this government's first measures.

"We'll make it better and with that money it will be possible to support businesses and families in this period of transition to help with the cost of (energy) bills".

He said this would provide money needed for temporary aid until the EU brings in "more structural measures".

He also talked about reducing Italy's reliance on imported energy, saying he has never been against drilling for new fossil-fuel supplies or against nuclear energy:

"When necessary, with respect for the environment."

New Health Minister Orazio Schillaci was the third minister of the new government who spoke to press yesterday, saying that he backed the idea of having a parliamentary commission of inquiry into how the COVID-19 pandemic was handled in Italy.

"It's useful to have clarification on what happened from the administrative point of view, as the premier said yesterday," Schillaci said.

"All the political parties agree.

"In terms of acquisitions, for example, I think it is right to give a signal to many ill people that public money is being spent correctly."

On Wednesday Premier Giorgia Meloni, who was frequently critical of COVID-19-linked restrictions when she was in opposition, said there was no scientific basis to many of the decisions taken during the pandemic.