Former Labour Deputy Minister Konrad Mizzi is still being paid by Parliament as an MP even though he has not attended any hearings since March, Speaker Anglu Farrugia said during Parliament on Monday.

Mizzi is justifying his absence on medical grounds, Farrugia said. 

The Speaker in today's sitting clarified this after in another sitting Opposition Leader Adrian Delia addressed the matter. 

Mizzi has not attended parliament since 13 March having submitted a medical certificate to justify his absence. 

Farrugia explained that 'in 2016, the Government and the opposition unanimously agreed to the amendments to the permanent order of the House governing the absence of members at the sittings.' He said that "standing orders, allow MPs who are sick, to be excused as long as they present a medical certificate. In the event of long absence, an update of the medical certificate will be requested."

Although Opposition Leader Delia remarked that flights from the United Kingdom are open, Speaker Farrugia stated that "UK flights to Malta wound not be resuming on July 1 as it is not listed in the 19 countries announced by the government."

"If Delia feels that there should be a specific time for non-attendance in case of illness, he should submit a request to amend the permanent orders of the house," he said.

In addition, in a response to a supplementary question made by PN MP Jason Azzopardi about the current medical condition of Labour MP Mizzi and whether it has improved, Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne remarked that he could believe that such personal questions are being asked, thus he did not reply in order to respect data protection and personal privacy."