The Gozo and social policy ministers contested the 2022 elections with the highest number of unanswered parliamentary questions, figures tabled in parliament reveal.

By the end of the last legislature, the social policy minister failed to answer 122 PQs and the Gozo minister followed closely, with 121.

In total, almost 1,000 parliamentary questions submitted throughout the last legislature remained unanswered.

Speaker of the House Anġlu Farrugia tabled the figures in parliament last week, in reply to a parliamentary question by Nationalist MP Chris Said.

Said asked how many PQs submitted in the last legislature remained unanswered. Of the 24,369 PQs submitted between 2017 and 2022, ministers failed to answer 961, and the Gozo and family ministers were the biggest culprits.

At the time, the Gozo ministry was headed by Justyne Caruana and, later, by Clint Camilleri, and the social policy ministry was headed by Michael Falzon.

The economy minister failed to answer 90 PQs, the transport and infrastructure minister 87 and the home affairs minister 70.

In total, four per cent of all PQs went unanswered.

The research and innovation ministry closed off the legislature with the least unanswered PQs – just three.

These figures must be interpreted with caution, however, as some ministers are asked more questions than others.

Another PQ by Said revealed that, since the beginning of this legislature until the end of last month, 894 PQs still have not been answered.

Parliamentary questions are formal enquiries made by MPs to government ministers asking them to explain and justify their decisions, policies and spending.

PQs serve as a crucial tool for MPs – especially opposition and backbench MPs – to hold their colleagues and counterparts accountable.

Two weeks ago, Times of Malta reported that another PN MP – Jerome Caruana Cilia – submitted 300 PQs asking ministers to list all direct orders issued over the past nine months. He has still not received a single reply.