The parliamentary chair had no remit to answer questions about the National Audit Office's work posed by former Parliamentary Secretary Michael Falzon, Speaker Anġlu Farrugia told parliament this evening. 

Dr Falzon had taken the NAO to task following the publication of two reports on the acquisition of properties in Valletta and Qormi during the previous administration, and asked the Speaker, to whom the Auditor General reports, to investigate.

According to Dr Falzon, the NAO had intended to group four separate investigations into one report before realising it should not do so. He accused the Auditor General's office of harbouring a political agenda and acting in a two-faced manner. 

The former parliamentary secretary has been on the warpath against the NAO ever since it found incidences of "collusion" between the Lands Department, which formed part of Dr Falzon's portfolio, and developer Mark Gaffarena over the expropriation of a Valletta property. 

Dr Falzon was made to resign his post as parliamentary secretary following the report.

In his latest salvo against the NAO, Dr Falzon had asked what action was being taken after it was revealed that an NAO employee had gone abroad with a certain PN MP (referring to shadow Justice Minister Jason Azzopardi).

In reply, Dr Farrugia said a full transcript of Dr Falzon’s speech had been sent to the Auditor General. The Speaker added that it was up to the Auditor General to decide whether an investigation was warranted or not.