The Taoiseach has insisted that his High Court challenge to the Mahon tribunal is being taken in order to protect a constitutional principle, write Stephen Collinsand Colm Keena.
However, the Opposition parties have accused him of trying to delay the tribunal in spite of his repeated claims that he would co-operate fully with it. The Taoiseach also said there was no reason why the tribunal should not proceed with his evidence next week.
During sharp exchanges in the Dáil yesterday, Mr Ahern said that he had clear advice from his legal team that it would not be correct for him as a TD and a Taoiseach to answer questions in the tribunal on a statement he had made in the Dáil.
"It is a separation of powers issue and one of constitutional importance. As Taoiseach I cannot and will not ignore it," he said.
Labour leader Eamon Gilmore, however, said it was a "bit much" of Mr Ahern to come into the Dáil and try and convince people he was acting to protect parliamentary privilege on behalf of everybody when he was doing it on his own behalf.
"It seems the Taoiseach is now trying to elevate to the status of a constitutional principle his personal act of political self-preservation, which is what the trek to the High Court was about," said Mr Gilmore.
It emerged yesterday that the Taoiseach only informed his Coalition partners and his Cabinet colleagues at lunchtime on Monday that he would be going to the High Court later that afternoon.
A Green Party spokesman said that Mr Ahern was taking a private legal action and was not acting as a member of the Government or on foot of a Government decision. A spokesman for the Progressive Democrats also said that the Taoiseach was taking his action as a private citizen.
"We fully support the tribunal," said the Green Party spokesman. "This is part of the legal process and we hope it doesn't unduly delay the process."
Despite the insistence of his Coalition partners that his action was being taken as a private citizen Mr Ahern was adamant in the Dáil that he was acting to vindicate his constitutional rights as a TD and the leader of the Government and that he had no option but to do so on legal advice.
"It is the duty of each member of the Dáil and Seanad to uphold this constitutional provision that is fundamentally based on the separation of powers. No court or tribunal can examine or challenge a member of the Dáil on his or her utterances in the Dáil," he said.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny challenged the Taoiseach's interpretation of the Constitution on the meaning of Dáil privilege and disputed Mr Ahern's contention he had no option but to take the action.
"The Taoiseach is not obliged to take anyone's legal advice. He is a client. His legal team should be quite prepared to set a number of options in front of him. The Taoiseach is then fully entitled to say he does not accept the advice and wishes to take another course. However, he has not done that," said Mr Kenny.
Later, Eamon Gilmore questioned the Ceann Comhairle, John O'Donoghue, as to whether the Dáil should be joined in the court challenge in order to define what was meant by privilege.
Mr O'Donoghue is to communicate with party leaders about this possibility, adding that the matter may have to be referred to the Dáil's Committee on Procedure and Privileges (CPP) for determination.
It emerged yesterday that the Mahon tribunal wrote to Mr Ahern in October 2006 after he spoke about his personal finances in the Dáil as it believed he had made references to documents which he had not disclosed to the tribunal.
Mr Ahern's solicitors responded a few days later, saying the tribunal had misconstrued Mr Ahern's statements to the Dáil and that he had disclosed to the tribunal all the documents he was required to.
The tribunal referred to the "paucity" of documentation provided to it by Mr Ahern.