Lobbyist Frank Dunlop said he was told Independent councillor Gus O'Connell was sent on a "junket" to London so that he would not be present for a crucial vote on Quarryvale in December 1992.
Mr O'Connell was working for training agency Fás at the time and John Lynch, then director general of Fás and now chairman of CIÉ, was his superior and sent him on a fact-finding trip to London, the tribunal heard.
Mr Lynch was also a friend of Owen O'Callaghan, the Cork developer behind the Quarryvale project, now known as Liffey Valley Shopping Centre, and had worked with Frank Dunlop.
Counsel for the tribunal Patricia Dillon said three calls were made by Mr Lynch to Mr Dunlop's office in December 1992; and two of the calls were made in the two days preceding the council vote. Mr O'Connell went on the trip to London on the morning of the vote, she said.
Ms Dillon also said that Mr O'Connell was well known as being opposed to the Quarryvale project and had tabled a number of motions in an attempt to prevent its development.
Mr Dunlop said there was "considerable surprise" expressed by councillors and others when Mr O'Connell did not appear for the crucial council meeting of December 17th, 1992. He said Mr O'Connell's absence was a matter of debate and comment by councillors, but he considered it a plus.
He said he heard on the day of the vote or shortly afterwards, that Mr O'Connell did not attend the meeting because he was "on a junket".
Tribunal chairman Judge Alan Mahon said there were two possible scenarios: that Mr O'Connell had been purposely "taken out and sent off" so that he would not be present to vote, or the timing of the trip was a coincidence.
He asked Mr Dunlop which of the scenarios had been suggested to him. "There was an imputation that he had been sent away on a junket," Mr Dunlop replied.
Ms Dillon asked Mr Dunlop if he knew why Mr Lynch rang his office on three occasions in December. Mr Dunlop said he did not know, except that he may have wanted to contact Mr O'Callaghan.
Ms Dillon said that in a statement to the tribunal Mr Lynch said he never sent anyone on a junket, but he did recall arranging to send Mr O'Connell to London in December 1992. He said he was aware there was an important vote at the time in Dublin County Council and he told Mr O'Connell he did not have to take the trip if he didn't want to, but Mr O'Connell decided to go.
Mr O'Callaghan had also denied arranging to send Mr O'Connell on a junket, the tribunal was told.
Ms Dillon said Mr O'Connell told the tribunal that he was asked to go on the trip to examine how the privatisation of the training and employment services in England was working out.
He said he discussed the planning vote with Mr Lynch but his first loyalty was to his employer. He also said his vote would not have changed the outcome on the night.
Ms Dillon again questioned Mr Dunlop about a £55,000 withdrawal he made from his account on November 10th, 1992. She asked if he had ever spent £55,000 at any election before or since. Mr Dunlop said he had not.
She pointed out that Mr Dunlop was about to run the election for Fianna Fáil and was a man of influence.
"I was an apparatchik, I don't know whether I was of great influence," Mr Dunlop replied.
"You peddled influence," Ms Dillon said.
She also referred to a letter written by Mr O'Callaghan to then taoiseach Albert Reynolds in November 1992 in which he said he had given support "in excess of six figures" to the party.
