O’Brien wants US report in evidence

Businessman Denis O’Brien wants to have evidence from a US constitutional law expert heard in his forthcoming High Court action alleging statements made by TDs in the Dáil about his banking affairs are not absolutely privileged.

Mr O’Brien, who will give evidence in the case himself, claims there is no such absolute privilege on grounds including that utterances in the House must not usurp the judicial domain and must be linked to the legislative process. If those claims are upheld, that has major implications for proceedings in the Oireachtas.

A pre-trial application to have the court admit into evidence a 60-page report from Laurence Henry Tribe of Harvard Law School was made yesterday by Michael Cush SC, for Mr O’Brien.