Economy Minister Chris Cardona told Parliament yesterday that when he took office, his permanent secretary had not been able to answer questions about where the computers had gone. He did not even have keys.

Dr Gonzi denied that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had found only a magazine in his office

Dr Cardona said he therefore immediately ordered an inventory of what was left in the bare office premises to prove that there were neither computers nor files.

In a question-and-answer session that took up quite a chunk of question time, Opposition Leader Lawrence Gonzi and MP Tonio Fenech (PN) questioned the minister about why there seemed to have been no communication with the former Finance Ministry and the Malta Development Corporation, which had all the files in order.

Dr Cardona said he could not understand why the Opposition was pretending to be scandalised. No Labour ministry had torn up files, as had happened before other elections.

Dr Gonzi denied that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had found only a magazine in his office. He should have found all the pertinent files and, if not, he should have carried out an investigation.

Dr Cardona reiterated that all incoming ministers had found practically nothing except emptiness.