The Green Party is taking legal action against RTE for excluding Eamon Ryan from its leaders’ debate.

A hearing has been penciled in for Monday – a week before the live debate is due to be televised.

The Greens representation in the Dáil was wiped out in the last general election, with all six of its TDs losing their seats.

This time round, the party is fielding candidates in every county and Eamon Ryan feels he should be invited to join the other party leaders for a live televised debate, which is due to be broadcast on RTE on Monday week.

The Dublin Bay South candidate wasn’t asked to take part because of the party’s failure to meet the criteria set down by the broadcaster, which requires a party to have a minimum representation in the outgoing Dáil.

The party engaged with both RTE and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland but felt it was left with no choice but to seek relief from the courts.

Earlier, the High Court paved the way for a judicial review to be heard on Monday and RTE are due to be given notice by close of business today.