Government has also been quiet on how they will pay millions of dollars of Police backpay after reaching an agreement for a five percent pay rise last month. The deal included a 5.8 percent one-off "uplift" on their original pay in October 2005, plus a five percent increase for each of the last three years and a $350-a-month housing allowance backdated to October 2005.

Recently appointed Deputy Police Commissioner Michael DeSilva, whose remit includes finance, said the retroactive payments for the salary increases and housing allowance – to be made in three instalments over the next seven months – would cost "millions", but was not budgeted for this financial year.

He added that either other funds would have to be moved or an application would have to be made to the Government for the money.

The Royal Gazette understands that Police have been promised 40 percent of their back pay at the end of this month, 30 percent in February and 30 percent in the next financial year.

But a week after questions were sent about the subject, a spokesperson for Public Safety Minister David Burch released a terse one-line statement late Tuesday which said: "The Minister has declined comment on the matter at this time."

The unanswered questions:

1) Will this timetable (see above) be kept to?

2) If not, what is the new timetable?

3) Where will the money be taken from?

4) Will other programmes or plans suffer because of this?

5) How much will that pay deal cost in total?

6) Will you need a supplementary estimate when the House resumes in November?