Parliamentary privilege essential for members

IT IS not my intention to continue a public dialogue in these pages with John Kennedy and I intend now putting the matter to rest until the Taoiseach’s court proceeding are concluded.

However, I think Mr Kennedy (Letters, March 12) fails to appreciate the importance of protecting parliamentary privilege.

The constitutional provision on parliamentary privilege states that members of the Oireachtas “shall not” be amenable to any court or authority other than the House itself in respect of “any utterance” in the House.