Over 1,200 parliamentary questions went unanswered in previous legislature

More than a thousand parliamentary questions were tabled during the 14 Legislature have gone unanswered, Speaker Carmelo Abela has revealed.

According to the Speaker, in the 14th Legislature, between 2022 and 2026, 36,054 parliamentary questions were made, and around 1,200 of those questions went unanswered.

Nationalist MP Michael Piccinino had asked the Speaker how many parliamentary questions tabled during the previous legislature remained unanswered by the end of the term, or were answered only with the reply that "the answer will be given in another sitting" or that "the information is still being gathered."

He also asked for a breakdown of these unanswered questions by ministry.

The Speaker's reply shows that 468 questions never even made it onto the agenda, as parliament closed before the sitting at which they were due to be discussed. A further 1,238 were left without an answer altogether, spread unevenly across the fifteen ministries.

The Ministry for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects tops the list, with 174 unanswered questions, more than any other ministry. It is followed by the Ministry for Foreign and Tourism Affairs on 126, and the Ministry for Health and Active Ageing on 124.

Several ministries cluster around the 90s: Culture, the Arts and Local Government logged 96 unanswered questions, as did Education, Sport, Youth, Research and Innovation, while the Office of the Prime Minister recorded 88.

Justice and Reform in the Construction Sector had 83 unanswered questions, Social Policy and Children's Rights had 110, and Gozo and Planning had 71.

Further down the list, Home Affairs, Security and Employment had 58 unanswered questions, Finance had 50, and the Environment, Energy and Public Cleansing had 44. Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights had 62.

The lowest figures came from the Ministry for EU Funds and the Implementation of the Electoral Programme, with just 15 unanswered questions, and the Ministry for Inclusion and Voluntary Organisations, with only ten.

The reply, dated 30 June 2026, confirms the total number of unanswered parliamentary questions from the previous legislature at 1,238.