Updated 5pm

Labour MP Randolph De Battista has said he feels "ashamed" for voting against a PN motion to hold a public inquiry into the death of construction site victim Jean Paul Sofia.

Speaking outside parliament, Labour's CEO said he regretted his vote in July and apolgised to the family of the 20-year-old who died when the Corradino factory collapsed during construction in December 2022.

"My apology makes no difference to Isabelle’s life as no one can say what she went through, what she is going through and what she will continue to go through but if you ask me how I feel – I feel ashamed," he said.

Labour MPs voted unanimously against the motion after prime minister Robert Abela said a criminal inquiry would suffice.

He back-tracked days later and after a mass protest outside his office. 

On Wednesday the inquiry found that Jean Paul Sofia died when an unregulated building collapsed and that the state must bear responsibility for a series of failings. 

It found serious problems in state entities Malta Enterprise, INDIS and the OHSA, suggesting that people in those entities should consider their positions, leading to several resignations. 

Labour MP Carmelo Abela defended the parliamentary group's decision at the time but said that in retrospect, MPs should have "been more sensitive" to the family at the time.

"Everyone is wise after the event, but the consideration then was a legal one when, perhaps in certain circumstances, emotion should have won over legality," he said.

In a Facebook post on Thursday morning Debattista's partner and Labour MEP Cyrus Engerer revealed he had written a letter to the parliamentary group questioning the party's unanimous vote in the summer. 

"People were right not to understand how a whole parliamentary group had voted against a public inquiry into the death of Jean Paul Sofia," Engerer said, adding he had met several - especially young people - who questioned the lack of diverse opinion within the parliamentary group.