Education Minister Clifton Grima has defended his record on answering parliamentary questions (PQs), insisting his ministry was among those that answered most since last year’s election.
“If you consider it in terms of percentages, you have to take it over 1,200 questions so one can see that yes, our ministry was among those that answered most questions,” he said.
Grima was speaking after information given to parliament showed that the Education Ministry has by far the highest number of unanswered PQs at 173.
By comparison, Clayton Bartolo’s Tourism Ministry, which has the second most unanswered questions, has 77.
Grima told Times of Malta that the sheer number of questions put to his ministry must be taken into consideration.
“Our portfolio is one of importance and obviously several PQs are addressed to the education sector.”
Grima said that he has answered more than 1,100 PQs this year.
Under the current system, Grima said, ministries have three days to answer a PQ.
I am not pointing fingers at anyone
When the three-day period has elapsed, that question is declared unanswered, but some PQs require more research, he said.
Grima added that he must table answers that make sense.
“When I feel that there are shortcomings in the answers given to me, I do not table them in the House (of Representatives),” he said.
“I only table the PQ when I am comfortable that the facts I am given give a clear picture regarding what was asked. I have the responsibility to ensure that my answers give clear information and a clear direction,” he said.
“I am not pointing fingers at anyone. I am saying that there are people who have their own responsibilities but are asked to additionally provide the needed information, and some questions require a lot of work,” Grima said.
He said the same PQ is often made multiple times, but because it was asked separately it is considered a different question.
“We have nothing to hide or keep back - it is just that there is a large number of PQs,” Grima said.
He said that the pending questions will soon be answered after the full information has been gathered.