A lucrative family holiday the Prime Minister took last year was to celebrate the 15th wedding anniversary.

Joseph Muscat defended the holiday, saying he and his wife Michelle had originally planned to go to Dubai six months earlier for the 20th anniversary of getting to know each other. 

However, the holiday had to be postponed because of the death of Michelle's mother.

He reiterated that the six-night stay in Dubai was paid for using his own credit card.

The credit card was issued by Bank of Valletta, he said, and was the same one he has been using for years.

"I repaid the credit card bill over six months and have bank statements to show for it," he said.

Asked whether he felt the €11,000 expense was in bad taste given that some people barely had that income in a year, Dr Muscat said Nationalist Party president Ann Fenech had boasted of having pensioners give her €10,000 in ċedoli.