THE final batch of Tynwald Questions prior to the dissolution of the House of Keys before the September General Election breaks all previous records with 71 items for oral and written answer.

And one of the questions actually asks a question about the questions! Douglas South MHK Bill Malarkey, who has often criticised the amount of questions asked each week in both Tynwald and the House of Keys, is seeking some statistics on how many questions have been tabled in the last political year.

He will ask the Chief Minister Tony Brown: ‘How many questions were answered in the House of Keys, Legislative Council and Tynwald by Government, broken down by Member asking the question, from October 2010 to July 2011; and what the estimated average cost to Government is of answering one question?’

Mr Brown is another MHK who has also been critical of the amount of time wasted on answering unnecessary questions and his reply should be interesting.

One thing is certain, the man at the top of the list will undoubtedly be controversial Onchan MHK Peter Karran who has consistently tabled more questions than any other politician over the last five years, and particularly in the last two years.

For tomorrow’s sitting Mr Karran has tabled no fewer than 34 questions covering a huge range of topics including government spending on PR, another series of questions on CinemaNX Ltd, planning application procedures, the government website and VAT to name but a few.

The answer to Mr Malarkey’s question will confirm that Mr Karran is - by a country mile - the man who has asked more questions probably than the rest of the House put together. What these questions have achieved, however, is another question altogether.

Amongst the many other subjects for the Question Paper tomorrow are breast care (Brenda Cannell, East Douglas); the former Jurby Army campsite development scheme and the Reciprocal Health Agreement (David Cannan, Michael); public sector housing (Graham Cregeen, Malew & Santon); MER passenger figures (David Callister MLC); the Richmond Hill traffic scheme costs (Alex Downie MLC) and the Ballakillowey Roundabout scheme (Quintin Gill, Rushen).

Best of all, however - with “end of term” in mind - is the question from Rushen MHK Quintin Gill who wants to know why dogs are not allowed in Manx pubs!