Mr George Redmond told the tribunal he received money from builder Mr Tom Brennan as an annual consultancy fee for giving his opinion and advice about lands.
When he said that many of the things would be public knowledge, the chairman asked: "If the information was so freely and readily available to everybody, why did Mr Brennan pay you? Was he just being charitable, or generous or felt he could get the first news?"
Mr Redmond said it was never like that. There was never first news. It was an era of non-events. "He had great confidence in me. Don't ask me why. He'd rather come to me than go to the law library."
The chairman commented: "It was probably more expensive but more effective."
Mr Redmond said: "I would have an omnibus consultancy. I was very interested in property."
The chairman responded: "I think you were more interested in money."
Mr Redmond said that was very unfair. He did take it all right. He was a hoarder. He should not have taken it.
Mr Desmond O'Neill SC, for the tribunal, said Mr Redmond received a vast amount of money from Mr Brennan. Could he indicate to the tribunal the nature of the services or other advice or actions he provided to Mr Brennan or his company during the period during which he was receiving the money?
Mr Redmond said first of all, it did not mean that on every occasion he received money that there was some issue Mr Brennan wanted to know something about or wanted an opinion about.
Mr Brennan made it clear he was paying him out of his own resources, from money he made from horses or his farm. "He would ask me for advice about buying land."
He remembered there was one piece of land Mr Brennan bought when he was principal officer in Dublin Corporation in the 1970s and McInerney wanted to sell off a land bank, including the Aylesbury estate in Tallaght.
"Mr Brennan was offered the land and he asked me what I thought of it."
Asked what he received in respect of that, Mr Redmond said no specific transaction could be related to the money. "You could say it was an annual consultancy fee," Mr Redmond said.