Updated 1.25pm - Added PL reaction

The Nationalist Party has cranked up the pressure on the government to allow MPs to scrutinise the deal which saw it hand Vitals Global Healthcare a 30-year contract to run three state hospitals.

The deal, PN deputy leader David Agius and whip Robert Cutajar said in a joint statement, should be debated by parliament's Health Committee, where members could summon witnesses and stakeholders to testify, rather than just the plenary. 

Health Minister Chris Fearne told parliament on Saturday morning that the government was happy to debate the issue in a plenary session to be held on January 17. 

In its statement, the PN said that it was happy to hold a plenary debate on the concession sale, but that parliament's Health Committee should also add the topic to its agenda. 

READ: Vitals bought hospitals' contents and equipment for just €1

VGH was given a 30-year contract to run St Luke's, Karin Grech and Gozo general hospital in 2015. Less than two years into that contract, it sold the concession on to US healthcare provider Steward Healthcare. 

Times of Malta subsequently revealed that the deal the government had struck with Vitals saw the private, BVI-registered firm take ownership of the three hospitals' contents for the sum of €1. 

In its statement, the PN said the government's evasiveness indicated it had something to hide and that its "supposed transparency is just a buzzword it likes using without putting into practice." 

Plenary is parliament's highest branch - PL

In a statement issued soon after the PN's, the Labour Party defended its insistence on having the issue only debated at plenary level, saying the plenary was parliament's highest branch. 

The Vitals deal, the PL said, would breathe new life into hospitals abandoned by PN administrations and would boost medical tourism. 

It made no reference to the PN's calls for the deal to be scrutinised by parliament's Health Committee.