A total of €9,550 in fines have been imposed on MPs for missing parliamentary sittings without justification in the first half of this legislature.

Until the end of last year, independent MP Marlene Farrugia topped the list with a total of €950 in fines, followed by Nationalist MP Chris Said with €550 and Labour deputy leader Chris Cardona who incurred €500 in fines.

Regulations establishing a €50 fine for legislators who have no reason for a no-show were introduced in 2016. MPs only need to be in the House for a few minutes to be recorded as present.

Not every unjustified absence will incur a fine because a penalty is imposed per “parliamentary day”, not per sitting. That means an MP who misses a plenary sitting to attend a parliamentary committee, or is present for at least one sitting during the Budget debates, is not liable to a fine.

In the period between the start of this legislature in June 2017 and the Christmas recess, opposition MPs accumulated twice the amount of fines as their government counterparts, incurring a total of €6,350 compared to €3,200.

Seventeen government MPs did not incur a single fine, with their absences justified by being abroad on government duties or attending parliamentary commitments or party events. Prime Minister Robert Abela was fined once and his predecessor Joseph Muscat twice.

None of the opposition MPs managed to avoid a fine, though 11 of them were only fined once. Nationalist leader Adrian Delia incurred two fines.

MPs with most fines*

Marlene Farrugia: €950

Chris Cardona, Chris Said, Jason Azzopardi, Beppe Fenech Adami: €500

Silvio Schembri, Simon Busuttil: €450

Konrad Mizzi, Claudio Grech: €400

José Herrera, Edward Zammit Lewis, Robert Arrigo: €350

MPs who have not incurred a fine

Carmelo Abela, Clayton Bartolo, Evarist Bartolo, Owen Bonnici, Ian Borg, Justyne Caruana, Helena Dalli, Deo Debattista, Michael Farrugia, Julia Farrugia Portelli, Roderick Galdes, Etienne Grech, Silvio Grixti, Emanuel Mallia, Joe Mizzi, Anton Refalo and Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi.

*Data covers until the end of December 2019

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