Health Minister Konrad Mizzi promised the government would fight tooth and nail to get whoever had short-changed the people in the Mater Dei Hospital scandal.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said he was looking forward to trace all those who had been responsible for what has been unearthed. He repeatedly pointed out, though, that the waiver clause in the agreement with Skanska made things difficult, though not impossible.

They were reacting to comments and questions made by opposition MPs on the statement Dr Mizzi made about the inquiry findings (see page 1).

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil asked what the government planned to do to recoup the €35 million in repair costs, not from the people but from whoever had delivered bad work.

He wondered where the oft-quoted figure of €35 million (to do the necessary repairs) had come from since, as the government was saying, Arup’s reports were not yet complete.

Why had there been continuous leakages of information by Dr Muscat and Dr Mizzi if the inquiry report had not yet been completed? And why did the government seem to have given up by incompetently saying it could not take any action against Skanska? The project closure agreement did not mean the government had no right to take action, Dr Busuttil said.

He said there had hardly been any mention of former health minister John Dalli, under whose watch the negotiations on the hospital building had been held.

Dr Mizzi had mentioned Nationalist MP Joseph Cassar, who had not been health minister at the time, but Dr Cassar had not been asked to testify before the inquiry.

Concluding the debate, Dr Mizzi said the Opposition was forever saying it wanted the best possible health service for the people but when the PN was in government it had delivered mediocrity as its best.