Callely ruling - Close this loophole

THE High Court’s decision on Monday to award Ivor Callely €17,000 to cover earnings lost because he was suspended from the Senate by an Oireachtas committee undoubtedly serves the law but it defies common sense.

It would, even in the best of times, but as nearly half a million people struggle to find work, and as hundreds of thousands more have to fight to make ends meet, the outcome suggests that society is divided into several parallel universes and that different rules apply in each.

Mr Callely won on a technical, procedural detail and every effort must be made to ensure that this loophole is closed off before the relevant committee finds itself facing a similar issue.