Several former members of the Independent Radio and Television Commission have said they were "taken aback" by the amount RTE sought initially for providing transmission services for Century Radio.
Those IRTC members who have given evidence so far have also said they were never canvassed by Century for their vote, nor did the then minister for communications, Mr Ray Burke, intervene with them in the selection of radio licences. One member, Mr Fred O'Donovan, a former broadcaster and member of the RTE Authority, yesterday described RTE's initial demand of £1.1 million for transmission services as "ridiculous". He was shocked by the figure.
He assumed RTE and Century were engaged in bargaining. "It was the normal huckster shop negotiations you get in Ireland where no one believes the other's price and fairy tales are told."
The commission had no independent advice on transmission charges. Century had a consultant from London who was very competent. "I assumed they were working on his figures."
Mr O'Donovan said it was a mystery to him why he was appointed to the commission. It may have been his long experience in radio broadcasting.
More than 100 applications were received for radio licences, he said, but many were from "headcases". "Many applications were from accountants who came from the Hans Christian Andersen school of economics - they were crazy."
He couldn't remember why the national radio licence was dealt with first but pointed out that the lead-in time for a national station was much greater than for a local station.
Mr O'Donovan said he was unaware until this week that Mr Burke had effectively nominated the bank, accountant and lawyer appointed by the IRTC.
Four applications were received. The witness said he felt there was very little between Century and the consortium led by Mr Denis O'Brien. His reservation about Century related to its financial proposals, in particular the charges it proposed to pay RTE for transmission.
After discussions, the commission members "veered" towards Century. One other contender was still "live" but 80-90 per cent of members were for Century. The process couldn't have been fairer and the chairman, Mr Justice Henchy, gave everyone a chance to air views.
Mr O'Donovan said he knew Mr Oliver Barry as a friend for some years, and was also friendly with many other people involved in different licence applications. He had informed Mr Justice Henchy of this fact before the process started.
Another IRTC member, Mr Kieran Mulvey, said he was "taken aback" by the amount first sought by RTE for transmission fees. Millions were being thrown around "like confetti at a wedding". His view was that the transmission services were held in trust for the people of Ireland. RTE operated them, but now there was a second independent body, the IRTC, which was equal in power to RTE.
