Budget debate timetable announced

The House Business Committee yesterday agreed on a provisional timetable for the debate on the budget and the financial estimates of a number of public corporations and authorities.

The budget will be presented on Monday evening. Opposition leader Alfred Sant will give his reaction on Monday, December 2, and Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami will reply on Wednesday, December 4.

The debate in committee of supply is due to start the following morning when the votes of expenditure of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be debated. The committee agreed however that the debate on this ministry may be transferred to another date because of meetings in Brussels of the Convention on the Future of Europe on December 5 and 6 which are due to be attended by Opposition foreign affairs spokesman George Vella. .

The rest of the budget debate timetable is the following: Ministry of Transport on December 5 in the evening; Ministry of Home Affairs on December 6 in the morning and the Ministry of Finance in the evening.

Ministry of the Infrastructure on December 9 in the morning and the Ministry of Education in the evening.

Ministry of Social Policy over two sittings on December 10.

Ministry of Agriculture on December 11 in the morning and the Ministry of Health in the evening.

The debate on the Ministry of Economic Services will be held over two sittings on December 12.

The Ministry of Gozo will be debated on December 16 in the evening, the Ministry of Justice on December 17 in the morning and the Ministry of Tourism in the evening.

The debate ends on December 18 with the debate on the Office of the Prime Minister in the morning and the vote on the appropriation bill in the evening.

The House will continue its debate on the Housing Authority next Tuesday evening and will debate the estimates of the Water Services Corporation in two sittings next Wednesday.

The estimates of the Maritime Authority will be debated in a morning sitting on December 3 and the estimates of MEPA in the evening.

Government whip Mario Galea in a statement yesterday criticised the opposition for having called a quorum at the start of yesterday's parliamentary sitting. He said that had there not been enough government MPs to form the quorum, the sitting of the House would have had to be adjourned to Monday with the same agenda. That would have meant that the budget could not be presented on Monday.

He asked if the opposition was scared of the budget.