The rights of politicians to protect their sources of information about alleged Garda corruption were contested at the Morris tribunal today.
The tribunal heard that Mr Jim Higgins of Fine Gael and Labour's Mr Brendan Howlin maintained that members of the Dáil were empowered by the Constitution to refuse to identify anyone providing them with information.
The tribunal - which is inquiring allegations of Garda corruption in Co Donegal - opened last year and is set to hear detailed evidence from witnesses in Dublin.
But the proceedings in Dublin have been delayed - mainly by the challenge to the right of Mr Higgins and Mr Howlin, both former justice spokesmen for their parties, to protect their sources.
Mr Higgins and Mr Howlin were given information by past or present members of the Garda, some of it relating to personalities involved in an internal investigation into the activities of Co Donegal officers.
The two politicians have been instructed by the tribunal to name their sources and also to hand over telephone and fax records of contacts they had with them.
The tribunal is investigating all aspects of the allegations made against the Garda, including the timing of and the motivation for their emergence.
Mr Higgins and Mr Howlin have consistently maintained that they would not reveal the identities of the people who approached them.
Today, counsel for the tribunal, Mr Paul McDermott, said although the Constitution incorporated enabling powers to protect the private papers of politicians, legislation to that effect had not been enacted.
Earlier, lawyers for the Dáil's procedures and privileges committees said although they had an interest in assisting the tribunal and were anxious not to delay it in any way, there was a question of the "discoverability" of papers and records of members of the Dáil and Seanad that would have to be addressed.
PA