Master of the High Court Edmund Honohan broke three small internal window panes in his Four Courts courtroom with a hammer in an incident over air conditioning.

The Courts Service has admonished the senior counsel in a letter, warning him not to damage court property again.

Before Christmas Mr Honohan told lawyers appearing before him that he had broken the window panes because the Courts Service had failed to act on his concerns about stuffiness in the room.

The three small window panes are part of panelled windows at the top of a wall dividing his courtroom from an internal corridor in the Four Courts building.

The glass panes have been replaced and Mr Honohan was reported by media to be pleased with the outcome as the windows could now be opened manually, where previously the window latches had been painted over.

The Sunday Times reported that Mr Honohan said he and a registrar had repeatedly caught colds, caused by a “fug”.

A Courts Service spokesman confirmed only that the master of the High Court had been in contact “shortly before Christmas about ventilation in his courtroom”.

The spokesman said this had been “checked out and the air conditioning system is fully functioning”.

While the windows have been repaired the cost of replacement is not currently known.

On a number of occasions in the course of proceedings Mr Honohan has asked for windows to be opened in the courtroom.

The master of the High Court is a quasi-judicial role, dealing with preparatory work for High Court applications, ruling on provisional orders in legal actions and judgments in uncontested cases.

A Cabinet appointee, he is accountable to the Government.

Last year Mr Honohan drafted housing legislation, the Affordable Housing and Fair Mortgage Bill, to give not-for profit housing providers first refusal, ahead of vulture funds on houses in mortgage arrears, to expand the mortgage for rent model for properties in arrears, and to reform Abhaile the mortgage arrears service as a mortgage resolution agency.

The Bill was introduced in the Dáil by Fianna Fáil TD John McGuinness.

Mr Honohan could not be reached for comment on Sunday.