Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Dáil Éireann, pursuant to section 4(2)(f)(iv) of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Acts, 2003 to 2015, hereby authorises the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission to instruct solicitor(s), Junior Counsel(s) and/or Senior Counsel(s) to conduct the defence of legal proceedings against Members of Dáil Éireann, (Record No. 2017/10667 P), entitled, Joe Costello v The Oireachtas, the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Ireland and the Attorney General, as regards matters arising solely from the performance of parliamentary functions.

As a member of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission, I formally move the motion which requests Dáil Éireann to authorise the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission to conduct a defence of legal proceedings taken against the Oireachtas. On Monday of this week proceedings were issued in the High Court, as set out in the text of the motion on today's Order Paper. The proceedings named, among other parties, the Oireachtas as one of the defendants in the case. Under the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Acts, the commission can, in legal proceedings initiated against Members of Dáil Éireann or Seanad Éireann as regards matters arising solely from the performance by Members of their parliamentary functions, authorise the conduct of a defence of legal proceedings on behalf of or for the benefit of Members. The Houses of Oireachtas Commission considered the proceedings and agreed to conduct a defence of the legal proceedings. Therefore, pursuant to section 42(f) of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Acts, I move the motion to request Dáil Éireann to authorise a defence of the legal proceedings.

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