Deputy Speaker Censu Galea on Wednesday explained why two different replies were given to the same question submitted by Nationalist MP Marthese Portelli.

On Tuesday Dr Portelli had requested the Speaker to investigate the matter. Since Speaker Anglu Farrugia is on duty abroad, the ruling was given by Deputy Speaker Censu Galea on Wednesday.

Dr Portelli had asked Health Minister Godfrey Farrugia to state the names of the consultants, including the persons of trust, who were contributing to the Health Ministry, and what terms of reference were given to these consultants, requesting Dr Farrugia to present in parliament a copy of their signed contracts or appointment letters.

Dr Portelli was provided with a reply in writing which stated that “presently, there’s only one consultant”.

However, a different reply was uploaded online to the one presented in parliament stating that there were no consultants working under the Health Ministry’s remit, prompting the MP to call for an investigation.

After having looked into the matter, the deputy speaker said that the original reply had been withdrawn by the health minister a few minutes before Tuesday’s sitting started and another answer was given instead.

Therefore, parliament’s clerks were obliged to replace the original reply with the final one.

This had been done, but Dr Portelli was among members who had taken a copy of the answered PQs before the reply to her question was amended, leading to the mix-up.