TDs may vote to act on O’Brien lawsuit

TDs may have to vote on whether the Oireachtas will defend a lawsuit launched by Denis O’Brien against a committee and its members in relation to comments made about his banking arrangements.

The billionaire businessman has accused the Committee on Procedure and Privileges (CPP) and its individual members of allowing his constitutional rights to be breached and of interference in the operation of the courts.

Ceann Comhairle Sean Barrett has already told the Irish Examiner the legal action will be defended.

Mr O’Brien is suing the Oireachtas committee after it decided in June that TDs Catherine Murphy (Ind) and Pearse Doherty (SF) did not breach privilege in the Dáil when making claims about his banking terms with IBRC.

He argues that section 40.31 of the Constitution, where the State guarantees to respect, defend, and vindicate the personal rights of a citizen, were not upheld by the committee.

He says allegations made by TDs about him in the chamber were an attempt to determine, at the time, a case pending against RTÉ.

Mr Barrett this week said the legal action was “outrageous”, “totally out of order”, and that the committee, which he chairs, would of course defend the action.

“I was absolutely astonished that somebody would drag us into the High Court because of the decision we took based on the standing orders of Dáil Éireann,” Mr Barrett told the Irish Examiner.

“He’s entitled to take a lawsuit if he so wishes. But I just don’t understand what is the problem.”

It has now emerged that any defence against Mr O’Brien’s legal action may have to be voted on by TDs, under standing rules on how legal actions are defended by the Oireachtas.

Any defence against Mr O’Brien would be taken up by the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission, which oversees everything from spending to administration. Mr Barrett is also chairman of the commission.

The Oireachtas said a decision to grant the commission the powers to defend the committee in court would have to be approved by the Dáil when TDs return after their summer break.

A spokeswoman said: “Under the legislation governing the Oireachtas, the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission may defend the proceedings on behalf of the committee, but the commission first needs the authority of the Dáil to do so; the Dáil will decide on the grant of any such authority when it sits again in September.”

Mr O’Brien’s legal action is being taken against the CPP, its 10 members, the Dáil clerk, committee staff, and the attorney general. The case is scheduled for mention in the High Court on October 7.

The spokeswoman pointed out that a motion could just be carried in the Dáil to defend the case, without a vote being taken. A similar route was taken when the Dáil empowered the Oireachtas to defend a legal action being taken by former Rehab charity chief Angela Kerins against the Public Accounts Committee. It is understood this was passed without a vote though.

It is unclear how many TDs would back a defence against Mr O’Brien, with some privately suggesting he has a legal right to take an action to protect his name.

Mr Barrett insisted the committee did nothing wrong and had made a decision about the standing orders of the Dáil when it ruled TDs did not breach privilege when they made statements about Mr O’Brien in the chamber.