SEANAD REPORT:THE MINISTER for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources accused Rónán Mullen (Ind) of abusing parliamentary privilege by implicating him in alleged inappropriate representations to the Bar Council over the referendum on additional powers for Oireachtas committees.

Pat Rabbitte took the unusual step yesterday of intervening in a debate on a Bill to state that he was appalled at remarks attributed to Mr Mullen.

When apologising to the House about a similar accusation concerning Minister for Justice Alan Shatter, the Senator had gone on to ascribe the allegation to him.

This was an outrageous claim, Mr Rabbitte said. “I think it’s a particularly ungraceful way to apologise to the Minister for Justice,” he added

Earlier, Mr Mullen said he was very happy to accept an assurance from Mr Shatter that he had not warned the Bar Council against voicing opposition to new powers of inquiry for Oireachtas committees.

Mr Mullen went on to say he thought the House needed to know if it was, in fact, Mr Rabbitte, or some other Labour Minister who had warned the barristers’ body that it would be to the disadvantage of barristers, in terms of their lobbying on proposed legal services legislation, if they opposed the relevant referendum.

Seanad deputy leader Ivana Bacik (Lab) said Mr Mullen had withdrawn an allegation he had made about Mr Shatter.

He was now making a similar claim in respect of Mr Rabbitte, which he was likely to find himself withdrawing today when it was also shown to be incorrect.

Mr Mullen said he merely wanted Mr Shatter to ask his colleagues in Government if any of them had conveyed such a message to the Bar Council. If any of them had done so, it would be a scandal.

At a time when people were struggling to make ends meet and many feared the loss of their jobs, it was important that the House debate the enormous sums being “earned” by an elite section of our society, Michael Mullins (FG) said.

He believed that people would read with dismay reports that a prominent broadcaster in RTÉ, who earned more than three times as much as the Taoiseach, was resisting attempts to reduce his pay.

There should be a debate on pay levels in the semi-States, preferably with the Minister for Finance being present, Mr Mullins said.