"Un-Parliamentary Language?"

The High Court recently decided that opinions expressed by members of the Dail Public Accounts Committee attract absolute privilege and are protected by the Constitution from judicial interference, even in circumstances where these opinions may be damaging to a person's reputation. The decision was based on the high profile case of Angela Kerins v McGuinness.

Ms Kerins brought an action for damages against the Public Accounts Committee ("PAC") on the nature of her questioning by some of PAC's members when she appeared before the Committee. Ultimately, while the High Court was highly critical of some of the questions asked of Ms Kerins, and agreed that they were "extremely" damaging to her reputation both personally and professionally, it held that her action must fail.