A radical new proposal in 1987 for a national independent radio service franchise had no documentation relating to it and it was not clear where it had come from, the tribunal was told.
Mr Pat Hanratty SC, for the tribunal, said according to tribunal documents the first mention was in a memo to Government in September 1987. Yet the original proposals for the development of local and community radio had generated an enormous amount of documentation.
The proposal brought forward by the Government before the Fianna Fail coalition that came to power in February 1987 was for local and community radio. Mr Ray Burke became minister for communications on March 23rd, 1987, and requested his officials to submit proposals for legislation.
"In those proposals there was no reference whatsoever to any question of providing a national commercial radio service as an alternative to RTE's national radio service," said Mr Hanratty.
On September 12th, 1987, in a memo to government, the objectives of the legislation were set out. At the end of that document there was a reference to the possibility of introducing the concept of a franchise for a licence for a national commercial radio service at some time in the future.
"It is not clear at this stage of the tribunal's inquiries where that proposal emanated from and why it was introduced at this particular point in time. All the draft legislation up to that point, including that produced by the previous administration, related to a framework for local and community radio only," he said.
In October 1987, in correspondence with the attorney general, the Department said the minister had confirmed the government's intention to have an independent national radio service established.
"This appears to be, on the basis of the information the tribunal has received, a fairly radical new proposal being introduced at this particular point in time," he said. "And yet we don't appear to have seen any documents at all in relation to this radical new proposal to introduce an independent national commercial radio service."
In November 1987 the Bill was approved and that proposal was incorporated into it.