The State and the Southern Health Board are in dispute over responsibility for the care of a man who was found guilty but insane of the murder of a fellow hospital patient 10 years ago.
Gerard O'Halloran (41) is currently in a Cork hospital at the direction of the Minister for Justice who retains control of his case.
He had sought to be transferred from Dublin's Central Mental Hospital to a psychiatric hospital in Cork.
The Southern Health Board claim they cannot accept the transfer to a Cork hospital while the care of the man is under the Minister's control.
Ten months ago, Mr Justice Geoghegan asked that the Departments of Health and Justice review the situation of Mr O'Halloran. Yesterday the judge was told his future has still to be resolved, despite medical advice recommending his transfer.
The board claims it must be allowed take charge of Mr O'Halloran's conditions of detention and treatment so it can decide his future. It argues the Minister must release Mr O'Halloran from the constraints of the verdict of "guilty but insane".
It was stated that while he was receiving hospital treatment in 1988 for manic depression, Mr O'Halloran killed a fellow patient by striking him on the head with a mop during an argument. Both Mr O'Halloran's parents died in the 1968 Tuskar Rock aircraft crash when he was aged 11. Medical consultants in the CMH believe Mr O'Halloran is no longer dangerous and should not be detained there. But an advisory committee found he was suffering from a mental disorder requiring continued detention and recommended his transfer to a Cork hospital for treatment.
Mr Justice Geoghegan, who heard the case last July, had said that before the High Court could make any orders against the Minister for Justice directing him to transfer Mr O Halloran, it would require further argument as to what exactly were the Minister's statutory powers.
The judge had asked for an assessment of the SHB's argument for not receiving Mr O'Halloran.
Yesterday, Mr Peter Charleton SC for the Minister for Justice said Mr O'Halloran had been moved to a Cork hospital and was being well treated there.
It seemed that under the legislation, the Minister might not have the power to order a health board to take anybody, counsel said.
The only power the Minister might have was to require a board to provide a particular service in an area. This might be a way out of the dilemma.
Mr Diarmaid McGuinness SC, for Mr O'Halloran, said they had not been told the conditions under which his client had been transferred to Cork.
Mr Hugh O'Neill SC, for the SHB, said his clients were not being obstructive and in fact Mr O'Halloran was under a more strict regime in Cork than while he was in Dublin.
Mr Justice Geoghegan asked why the board could not take the man on conditions required by the Minister who had got advice that it was desirable Mr O'Halloran be sent to Cork but with the Minister retaining ultimate control.
Mr O'Neill said the man was currently in a ward with people with a worse medical condition but he could not be released as he was under the direction of the Minister.
Mr Justice Geoghegan fixed June 11th to decide whether the Minister was entitled to have the SHB take Mr O Halloran on the Minister's terms.