James (Seamus) Treacy with an address at Ashton Close, Swords, Dublin, is seeking permission from the High Court to seek an order prohibiting his trial.
The application was made on a one-side only represented basis yesterday before Mr Justice Michael Peart who said he would give his decision Wednesday.
Kathleen Leader BL, for Mr Treacy, said her client was a former teacher in the Christian Brothers primary school in Sexton Street, Limerick.
Last June, he appeared on the charges in Limerick District Court. He faces one batch of charges of indecent assault relating to four boys between 1978 and 1979 and a second batch of charges relating to 13 others between 1978 and 1981.
Ms Leader said her client's right to an expeditious trial had been prejudiced in a number of ways including because a fellow teacher in the school, who could have given evidence on his behalf, has died.
The other teacher taught in a classroom adjoining Mr Treacy's class and a door between both rooms was usually open, she said.
Her client, who does not remember the individual complainants, has also undergone major medical treatment and his ability to withstand a long criminal trial had been compromised.
When he appeared in the District Court last year, a judge refused an application to impose reporting restrictions on using his name because of the antiquity of the charges and because the alleged injured parties are no longer minors.