A question on the goods and services were acquired by the Foreign Ministry through direct orders or quotations irked Foreign Affairs Minister George Vella, who questioned whether the ministry's limited staff should waste their time answering such 'blanket' questions.
On behalf of MP Claudette Buttigieg, opposition whip David Agius made essentially the same parliamentary question to a number of ministries, asking them for a list of goods and services which had been acquired by quotation or direct order since April 2013, as well as the amounts and the companies or individuals involved.
The replies of the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister - made by parliamentary secretaries Michael Falzon and Ian Borg respectively - was that more time was needed. But Dr Vella, who was next, asked the opposition to specify what it meant by services and products.
Mr Agius insisted that the question was clear, and that he could not understand why Dr Vella found difficulties when two other ministries answered that the information was being collected. But Dr Vella stuck to his guns, later stating that the parliamentary question should also specify an end date.
Deputy opposition leader Mario de Marco then intervened, pointing out that the opposition did not know which products had been purchased through quotations or direct orders, and that the opposition had the right to find out, particularly since the use of public funds was concerned.
But Dr Vella then questioned the scope behind such blanket questions without any clear aim, pointing out that these involved a number of people and that he felt guilty tasking his limited staff to spend time drawing endless lists on issues which, to him, appeared to be petty.
A further interjection by Dr de Marco prompted the minister to insist that he never asked questions of the sort, but ultimately he said that he was ready to answer if the opposition wanted it to, although he asked for more time.
But subsequently, when facing the same question, Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis similarly asked the opposition to specify an end date, as well as explain what was meant by goods and services.
On his part, Transport Minister Joe Mizzi then asked the opposition to specify an end date, and when told to follow his colleagues' lead, he said that he would, but added, to the approval of fellow government MPs, that he was uncertain if he could find any information on what happened before the present government came to power last year.
Mr Agius then pointed out that the question clearly stated that the starting date was April 2013, prompting the minister to point out that he found unpaid bills dating back to the previous administration when he took office.