Updated - Adds PL's reaction

The Attorney General has advised the government that the motion in parliament on the functioning of Malita plc as a special public vehicle to finance the City Gate project is a Money Bill.

Finance Minister Tonio Fenech announced the advice when he was about to start his winding up of the debate this evening.

He then proceeded to deliver to the Speaker the President's message asking the House to consider the Bill - a procedure which is usually followed at the beginning of all debates on money bills.

Mr Fenech said the Attorney General had argued that this was a Money Bill because it included a clause on 'permanent appropriation' of state funds to be paid to Malita as rent for the use of the new Parliament House, as well as the other clauses diverting groundrents from MIA and Valletta Waterfront to Malita. The funds to date used to go to the Consolidated Fund.

In his winding up Mr Fenech insisted, like he did yesterday, that the reason for the setting up of the special purpose vehicle was not to hide government funding but to ensure that borrowing for major capital projects such as this was paid regularly over a long term.

The vote on this motion will be taken in the House tomorrow, along with the vote on the Budget Measures Bill.

In a reaction to the minister's statement, the Labour Party said that it was significant that the government was now saying that this motion was a Money Bill - almost at the end of the debate.

This, it said, came two years after the project was taken in hand, two years since the minister had been saying that he knew how the project would be funded and even after he had presented amendments to rectify shortcomings in the motion.

All this reflected a lack of preparedness on an issue which affected taxpayers' money.

The AG's advice confirmed what the PL had been saying that the creation of the Special Purpose Vehicle meant that funds would be taken from the Consolidated Fund to be used on the new parliament building, the party said.