A senior DUP politician has said that if the Taoiseach continues to press for a public inquiry into claims of collusion in the North, then he should "step up to the mark" in relation to claims involving the Irish State.
Jeffrey Donaldson made his comments after giving evidence to the Smithwick Tribunal today.
He also refused to repeat a claim that a retired garda assisted the IRA in the murder of RUC officers.
Mr Donaldson would not have had legal privilege had he repeated the allegation and could have been sued by retired Det Sgt Owen Corrigan, whom he alleged was involved in passing information to the IRA.
During his evidence this afternoon, Mr Donaldson had been challenged by counsel for Mr Corrigan, Jim O'Callaghan, to repeat the claim outside.
Mr Donaldson said the House of Commons, where he first made the allegation and the Smithwick Tribunal, were the correct places to make his statements.
Mr O'Callaghan said it was his client's view that the DUP MP for Lagan Valley had committed "one of the most outrageous abuses of parliamentary privilege" by naming his client in the House of Commons in 2000.
Mr Donaldson rejected the allegation, saying he was doing his duty as a public representative and putting into the public domain information he had been given.
He denied an allegation that he used Mr Corrigan to advance his own political agenda and he also denied that he should have made his House of Commons statement without naming Mr Corrigan.
Mr Donaldson rejected the idea that he had put Mr Corrigan at risk of harm by claiming he was an IRA mole working within the gardaí.
Diarmuid McGuinness, counsel for the Garda Commissioner, asked the witness if he had received information from security sources that any garda was involved in collusion, Mr Donaldson replied "not in relation to Mr. Corrigan".
Asked afterwards would be repeat the claim, Mr Donaldson said that his motivation in naming Mr Corrigan in the House of Commons was to bring about a public inquiry into the allegations of collusion.
"I have not repeated the allegation since then, except to the tribunal today," he said, adding that these were the "appropriate places" for the allegations to be made and examined.
Mr Donaldson also said that if the Taoiseach is going to demand other inquiries into claims of collusion then he needs to "step up to the mark" in relation to inquiring into allegations of collusion by the Irish State with the IRA.
