Speaker Anġlu Farrugia has urged members of the Cabinet to make a bigger effort to answer all parliamentary questions and if possible within the stipulated timeframe.

He pointed out, however, that as chair of the House of Representatives, his powers with regards to ministers who repeatedly dodge questions was very limited.

The matter was raised by Opposition MP Chris Said who asked the Speaker to take action in the wake of the fact that, on various instances, the information requested was not being divulged.

In such cases, MPs were either being told to wait further as the reply would be given in another sitting or else that the requested information was still being gathered.

Responsibility for answers rests with ministers

From the start of this legislature in June 2017, there have been no fewer than 533 replies of this kind out of a total of 12,844 questions.

In his reply to Said, the Speaker pointed out that such complaints from Opposition MPs were not new but something which had been a regular occurrence for many years. He noted that in 2011, Joe Mizzi, who back then was an Opposition MP, had also complained on the matter to then-Speaker Anton Tabone.

While noting that the timing and the content of the reply was outside his remit, Farrugia referred to the provisions of the Erskine May, which is the reference book on parliamentary procedure used in the House of Commons, and also in Malta in cases where the Standing Orders are not so clear.

This states that the Speaker’s responsibility for questions is limited to their compliance with the rules of the House and that responsibility in other respects rested with the MP who proposes to ask the question, and responsibility for answers rested with ministers.

However, Farrugia urged members of the Cabinet to do their utmost to furnish MPs with the requested information as PQs were an important tool to keep the government under scrutiny.