The Supreme Court is hearing a challenge to a High Court order overturning a decision to suspend former Senator Ivor Callely over his expenses claims.

The former Junior Minister and Fianna Fail TD was last week in court on 6 criminal charges of submitting false invoices for mobile phones in Leinster House on dates between 2007 and 2009.

The former Senator was suspended from the Seanad back in 2010 after a Committee on Members' Interests found he had wrongly used his address in Cork to claim over €80,000 in travel expenses.

The decision and the findings were successfully challenged by the then-Senator in the High Court which ruled the Seanad Committee had acted beyond its powers in sanctioning Mr. Callely.

On appeal Senior Counsel Conleth Bradley for the Committee has told the Supreme Court it is accepted that by claiming Cork rather than his Dublin home to be his principal place of residence the former Senator complied with a Department of Finance definition.

However he argues that the Seanad Committee was entitled to have regard to political ethics in reaching its decision against Mr. Callaly.