The motivation of a former Esat Digifone CEO in not querying until late 1997 alleged payments of £200,000 made by Mr Denis O'Brien to two third parties has been questioned by Mr O'Brien. The payments were mentioned in connection with the securing by the company of the State's second mobile phone licence.
Mr O'Brien said he did not believe the CEO, Mr Barry Maloney, was motivated by any duty he owed to the company.
The alleged payments, one of £100,000 to the former Fine Gael minister Mr Michael Lowry, were first mentioned to Mr Maloney by Mr O'Brien in November 1996.
He said Mr Maloney did not talk about it again until late 1997 and he believed he only did so then to create difficulties at the time of the public offering of Esat Telecom. Otherwise, it would have been raised when bonds were issued in January and July 1997, he said. "I questioned what the motive was . . . He knew there was nothing in it," he said.
Mr John Coughlan SC, for the tribunal, asked if he believed Mr Maloney raised the issue for some vexatious purpose. Mr O'Brien said he never used that word. Mr Coughlan asked if Mr Maloney was right to raise the matter in the context of the IPO. "I think he should have raised it much earlier," Mr O'Brien said.
He added that there had been four investigations into the awarding of the licence, and none was told of the $50,000 Esat/Telenor donation to Fine Gael.
Mr Coughlan put it to him that if this information had got out at the time of the IPO it would have been the end of the public offer. Mr O'Brien agreed the effect would have been calamitous.
Earlier, Mr O'Brien, who has already said he thought about making a payment to Mr Lowry in 1996 but then decided not to, was questioned about how long he had been thinking of making the payment. He said it was just a fleeting thought. He said first it lasted less than a minute, then a minute, then up to 10 minutes and finally said he could not recall.