Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said that he had not misled the Dáil relating to his dealings with the Mahon tribunal and the Revenue Commissioners.
Mr Ahern said he had no problem with anything he had said in the Dáil.
"I have heard some people speculating that I am trying to conceal or hide something I have said," he added.
"It is nonsense. Everybody in the country has access to the Dáil record, and can read it if they wish, and make up their minds. Just for the record here, I stand over everything I have said in this House." Mr Ahern said he was not above or below the law and neither was the tribunal.
He said that he had no difficulty reconciling his support for the Government's recent motion, expressing support for the tribunal, and his decision to seek a judicial review on certain procedural issues.
"I have clear legal advice, from my legal team, that it would not be correct for me, as a Dáil deputy and as a Taoiseach, to answer questions on statements I have made in the Dáil," he added.
"It is a separation of powers issue and one of constitutional importance, and as Taoiseach I cannot ignore it and I won't."
Mr Ahern said he had no prolem answering questions about the numerous statements he had made outside the Dáil on those matters and on the extensive correspondence he had with the tribunal. "The substance of everything I have said in the Dáil has been repeated outside of it, and I have dealt with any questions arising from those statements," the Taoiseach added.
Mr Ahern said his legal team had told him, as a Dáil deputy and constitutional officer, that he might be in conflict with the provisions of the Constitution by submitting himself to questioning on his Dáil statements.
His advice was that Article 15.13 provided that members of the Dáil "shall not, in respect of any utterance in the Dáil, be amenable to any court, or to any authority, other than the Dáil itself".
He added that there was arguably a greater duty on the Taoiseach, as head of the Government, to ensure that the Constitution was complied with.
"The only way in which this fundamental constitutional principle can be vindicated is by way of legal proceedings before the courts. There is no other mechanism for its resolution," he added.
Mr Ahern said that other deputies had asserted the same privilege in the past.
"I thought that I could avoid this, that they would see the arguments being made and see the precedents pointed out by my legal team. They did not do so," he said.
Mr Ahern had been challenged by Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny to say if he had misled the Dáil in any of his previous comments or answers.
Mr Kenny insisted that the Taoiseach was not obliged to take legal advice from anybody. "You are the client." The Taoiseach could have taken a different course, but he had not done so, Mr Kenny added.
He accused the Taoiseach of engaging in the "second pre-emptive strike" against the tribunal, the first being that it would be wrong for the tribunal to sit during the general election.
"Why has this arisen all of a sudden? Why is it you fear . . . Is there something in some of those statements that you made that you do not now want to be questioned about?"
Mr Kenny asked the Taoiseach what he was afraid of. "You are the Taoiseach, head of Government. You have said you want to co-operate fully and totally and answer all the questions comprehensively." Quite clearly, said Mr Kenny, the court proceedings would delay the tribunal, add to its costs, and meant, specifically, "that there is something in there that you don't want those people to question you about".
In layman's terms, said Mr Kenny, there was an attempt to constrict, restrain and obstruct the tribunal from asking questions of the Taoiseach about some statements he made in the Dáil. Mr Ahern said he was accountable to the House. "I am not changing anything, or withdrawing or amending anything I said in this House," he added.
