98.— (1) A parliamentary legal costs adjudicator may, whether or not at the request of a party (including the Oireachtas Commission) to an application under section 51(1) for an adjudication of Part 2 inquiry legal costs (within the meaning of section 42), or at the request of a party to an adjudication referred to in section 57(3) or 58(3), refer a question of law arising in the application or adjudication, as the case may be, to the Court for the opinion of the Court.

(2) Where a question has been referred to the Court under subsection (1) by a parliamentary legal costs adjudicator, neither that parliamentary legal costs adjudicator nor any successor to that officer shall—

(a) make a determination to which the question is relevant while the reference is pending, or

(b) proceed in a manner, or make a determination, inconsistent with the opinion of the Court on the question.