Independent MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando has backed a call to stop the Government leasing St Philip’s Hospital until the matter is debated in Parliament.

Dr Pullicino Orlando said the process should be halted in the same way as the Government had suspended the privatisation of 34 public car parks.

He was echoing Nationalist MP Franco Debono’s request for a stay on the acquisition of St Philip’s until it is examined by the Auditor General or the Public Account Committee.

The call was also backed by the Opposition, with Labour spokeswoman on health Marie Louise Coleiro Preca saying yesterday it expected the deal to be put on hold until it was discussed in Parliament.

Addressing the House Business Committee yesterday, Dr Pullicino Orlando questioned why the same amount of money was not being spent on renovating the abandoned St Luke’s Hospital, which is government property. “Why are we choosing to spend more than €12 million over a period of time to lease an abandoned private hospital when we could spend the same amount on an equally abandoned St Luke’s Hospital. This is not even something which has to be taken to Public Accounts Committee stage because I am not in any way saying there were irregularities. I am talking about common sense here,” he said.

In calling on the Government to suspend the process, Dr Pullicino Orlando said: “The public has appreciated the Government’s decision to stop the car park privatisation process and I believe the same should happen here.”

His call did not provoke a response from any on the Government’s side, including Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg, Leader of the House.

The Government announced this week that it had reached an agreement to lease the disused private hospital in Santa Venera for €12.4 million over a period of eight years, with an option to buy it, to use as a rehabilitation hospital.

As the House Business Committee meeting continued, there was no agreement between the Nationalist and Labour sides on a date to discuss Labour’s contentious motion on the call for tenders for management of the car parks.

Labour deputy leader for Parliamentary Affairs Anġlu Farrugia proposed three dates for the debate: October 18, 25 or November 1.

But Dr Borg stuck by his proposal – November 8 – brought forward from last week’s proposal of November 12.

Dr Farrugia told Dr Borg the Government had no majority with which to “impose” its agenda for debate before the Budget Speech is delivered, which Dr Borg promised would be “sometime in November”.

However, Dr Borg would not budge from his proposed date, which falls on a Thursday and which would bring into effect a provision in Parliament’s Standing Orders for a special sitting to be held every other Thursday to discuss items raised by the Opposition or individual MPs.

He said the debate could start on November 8 and carry on a fortnight later, November 22.

Speaker Michael Frendo had last week proposed a debate before the end of October but the Opposition on Monday filed an adjournment motion calling for the matter to be debated this week. However, this was turned down by Dr Frendo.

During yesterday’s committee meeting, Dr Borg listed the Government’s top priorities for parliamentary debate: the European Stability Pact, the Bill regulating in vitro fertilisation, an amendment to a clause in the Censure Bill, raising the retirement age of members of the judiciary, a legal amendment on appeals in the Family Court and the Cohabitation Bill which is due to be published in today’s Government Gazette.

He said these were “of utmost urgency” but was interrupted by an angry Dr Debono who complained that Dr Borg had not mentioned any of the five pending motions he had filed. Dr Debono gave, as examples, the Bill on party financing, a no-confidence motion in Transport Minister Austin Gatt and the motion on judicial reform.

He said it “made sense” for the Government to trash out the Gatt motion before the Budget, especially in view of the position he had taken not to support the Budget if Dr Gatt remained in Cabinet.

“If you think all those (you mentioned) were urgent, why did we have a three-month summer recess,” he asked Dr Borg, to which the latter replied: “I have never worked so hard as I did this summer.”

At the end of the sitting, Dr Frendo urged the parties to agree on the creation of a Parliament Standing Committee on Economic and Financial Affairs, saying this was urgent and important.