The High Court will give judgment on Monday on the Green Party's application for an order directing RTÉ to broadcast live its annual conference next weekend.
The party claims it is entitled to coverage similar to that accorded by RTÉ to Labour, Progressive Democrats and Sinn Féin parties.
In an affidavit, Mr Stiofán Nutty, the Green Party secretary, said it had six TDs and two MEPs. In the last General Election it got 5.1 per cent of the first preference vote. Labour had 21 TDs, the PDs had eight and Sinn Féin five. Labour had one MEP and the PDs and Sinn Féin had none.
To date, RTÉ had provided live television broadcasts of the national conferences of Labour, the PDs and Sinn Féin. RTÉ's apparent criteria was that a political party must have at least seven Dáil deputies or at least 5 per cent of the national first preference votes in the last General Election.
However, he said, RTÉ had departed from these criteria in relation to the PDs. That party before the last General Election had less than 7 TDs and less than 5 per cent of the national first preference votes but still secured live TV coverage of its ardfheis.
In an affidavit, Mr Peter Feeney, head of RTÉ's public affairs policy, said the entire edition of the March 2nd broadcast of RTÉ's The Week in Politics programme was being dedicated to the Green Party. In addition, the party leader would be interviewed on the This Week programme for Radio 1 on March 2nd.
Referring to the claim that the PDs got coverage without coming within RTÉ's criteria for live coverage, Mr Feeney said that in 1992 the PDs got 4.68 per cent of the vote and had 10 TDs. In 1997 the PDs got the same share of the vote but had only four TDs.
In recognition of the fact that the PDs achieved the same vote as in 1992, RTÉ decided to offer the PDs "reduced" live coverage of half an hour. RTÉ had effectively decided that the most equitable course was to round up the 4.68 per cent to the nearest whole figure of 5 per cent.
Dr Michael Forde SC said the Greens were "in the same boat" as the PDs and were just below the limit. It was inexplicable that RTÉ had not taken into account the party's showing in the European elections.
He said the question for the court was whether, because it was broadcasting the conferences of the other three parties, RTÉ had a duty to provide equivalent coverage for the Green Party's conference. The party had a political stature at least equivalent to that of the PDs and Sinn Féin if not the Labour Party. Ms Justice Carroll reserved her decision to Monday.