Parliamentary privilege

Article 15 of the Constitution confers a number of privileges on each House of the Oireachtas and on its Members individually to enable them to perform their constitutional functions. The term "privilege" is largely undefined in Standing Orders or parliamentary practice but it is generally taken to mean the rights that Members have over and above ordinary citizens, without which they could not discharge their functions and duties as parliamentarians. One of the most important and fundamental privileges enjoyed by Members is the privilege of freedom of speech.

Article 15.12 provides:

All official reports and publications of the Oireachtas or of either House thereof and utterances made in either House wherever published shall be privileged.

Article 15.13 further provides:

The members of each House of the Oireachtas shall, except in case of treason as defined in this Constitution, felony or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest in going to and returning from, and while within the precincts of, either House, and shall not, in respect of any utterance in either House, be amenable to any court or any authority other than the House itself.

The privilege of freedom of speech in parliament is recognised and provided for in constitutions or basic laws across the world. It enables members of parliament to function in an independent way and speak freely, without the possibility of censure by an external entity or authority.

However, Members are subject to the rules of debate and amenable to the House itself for what they say. It is this amenability to the House that provides the protection against the abuse of privilege.