The House Select Committee on assisted procreation will only discuss three issues following the Clyde Puli report drawn up in 2005.

During the committee's inaugural meeting, committee chairman Jean Pierre Farrugia said they would concentrate on the eligibility of couples for treatment, the freezing of embryos and sperm and egg donations. He said that following the Puli report, a list of recommendations which were approved had been drawn up.

This was opposed by opposition spokesman on social welfare Michael Farrugia, who said the recommendations of that report were never approved.

The recommendations were presented by the chairman of the committee after he evaluated the whole report and they were never finalised because they had to be discussed by both parliamentary groups which never happened.

The committee chairman said the recommendations were approved and he had no intention of re-discussing everything.

"It is impossible to re-open discussion on all the issues," he added, making it clear it was his intention to work on the remaining three points.

Referring to points already discussed by the committee, Labour's Dr Farrugia said the committee would be calling those individuals who had already been consulted by other committees to see if they had anything more to add.

Any interested member of the public could send in their opinions. The committee would also ask the ministry of social policy whether it had received any reports from other quarters or NGOs regarding in vitro fertilisation.

Dr Farrugia said he would request leader of the House Tonio Borg to refer the draft law, if it exists, to the committee so they could guide themselves accordingly.

In response, the chairman said he had already spoken to the government about this point. He stressed it would be useless asking for any draft Bill if the committee had not yet finished discussing the three points.

The committee would be discussing the first point of the eligibility of couples for treatment when it meets again next Tuesday.