The High Court has reserved judgment on a challenge by Senator Ivor Callely against the Seanad Committee on Members’ Interests.
Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill said the case had entered new territory as it is believed to be the first of its kind involving a member of the Oireachtas.
On the third and final day of the hearing Mr Justice O’Neill asked if members of the Oireachtas should not have access to the courts if they had no right of appeal to decisions which could severely affect their good name.
Lawyers for the committee said the answer to that question lay solely with the houses of the Oireachtas.
However counsel for Senator Callely said because of his suspension it would be almost Christmas before he had the chance to address the Seanad.
Earlier today, lawyers representing the committee told the High Court that hard questions had to be asked of Senator Callely.
Senior Counsel Conleth Bradley said it was a difficult process for the senator but the committee was entitled to carry out its inquiry.
It was not right for the High Court to assess those questions as a legal proposition, he said.
He also denied suggestions of bias or that irrelevant issues were considered by the committee.
He said the issues were not picked out of the air, but facts that linked Senator Callely to his family home in Dublin.
The committee is opposing a High Court challenge by Senator Callely aimed at quashing its findings that he misrepresented his place of residence for the purpose of claiming allowances.
Mr Bradley rejected claims by Senator Callely's lawyers that the committee completely disregarded the definition.
He said it had been considered and ‘popped up all over the transcript’ of the hearings. However he said it had no legal standing and the committee was not bound by it.
The committee denied that it erred in law by making a determination against Senator Callely.
Mr Bradley said under the Ethics in Public Office Act it was legally entitled to make findings not only on an act, which is the subject of a complaint but also on the circumstances surrounding it.
Therefore, he said the committee was legally entitled to make a political or ethical judgment based on the circumstances.
He also said there was nothing to substantiate claims by Senator Callely of bias among some members the committee.
