Labour TD Brendan Howlin has said the Morris tribunal was aware of the identity of his source who passed on information to him nearly six years ago that led to the establishment of the tribunal.
Yesterday Mr Howlin confirmed that senior counsel Martin Giblin was the source, and that he had released him from any obligation to protect his identity.
Mr Giblin, a criminal law expert who was representing the McBrearty family, provided the information to Mr Howlin in 2000. The information was passed on in confidence to then minister for justice John O'Donoghue and eventually prompted the establishment of the tribunal.
The Labour Party has criticised the tribunal for taking a High Court and Supreme Court case to force Mr Howlin to hand over telephone records which could identify his source when it was aware of the identity of the person.
Mr Howlin had refused to do so, based on the principle that he could not identify the source of information provided to him as a TD confidentially, and he argued that his telephone records were the subject of Dáil privilege under the constitution. Last month the Supreme Court issued a judgment in favour of the tribunal ordering Mr Howlin to hand over telephone records, after it found that the Dáil had failed to use its constitutional powers to award privilege to telephone records.
The Dáil is now expected to seek legal advice on how to provide better protection for TDs' records in the wake of the judgment.
Yesterday, a spokesman for the Morris tribunal said it was not in a position to comment on the claims as it had yet to receive the documentation on foot of the Supreme Court order.
In an affidavit for the Supreme Court case, however, the tribunal stated that Mr Giblin had contacted it on October 23rd, 2003, and identified himself as Mr Howlin's sole legal source.
Mr Howlin said he was "perplexed" about the actions of the tribunal in pursuing a Supreme Court case on the issue which endangered the confidentiality enjoyed between TDs and citizens of the State, given the fact that Mr Giblin has given statements to both the tribunal and gardaí.
Yesterday Labour leader Pat Rabbitte said the public was "entitled to an explanation from the Morris tribunal as to why it pursued Brendan Howlin to the Supreme Court" as it was aware of Mr Giblin's identity from October 2003. He said that under the terms of reference of the tribunal it was required to complete its work in as economical a manner as possible.
"Is the pursuit of Deputy Howlin to the highest court in the land, in what was now apparently an attempt to establish a matter of principle, consistent with the requirement to conduct its business in as economical manner as possible?" he asked.
The Dáil Committee on Procedure and Privileges is expected to meet in the coming weeks to discuss the Howlin judgment.
It is expected to seek legal advice on what measures are needed to ensure that Dáil privilege applies to all relevant records relating to a TD's work.