A former finance officer with Mr Denis O'Brien's Communicorp group said he did not form the impression that the team assessing the bids for the State's second mobile phone licence had concerns about Communicorp's finances. Colm Keena reports.
Mr Peter O'Donoghue told Mr John Coughlan SC, for the tribunal, that he thought the oral presentation made by the Esat Digifone team in September 1995 had gone well.
"My view leaving the presentation was that we had done a good job," he said.
He did not attend the review meeting held afterwards by the Digifone team as he had another engagement.
The tribunal has been told by Mr O'Brien that he formed the view that the assessment team had concerns about Communicorp's finances.
After Mr Dermot Desmond's IIU Ltd became involved in the Digifone bid, a letter announcing the fact that IIU was underwriting Communicorp's involvement was sent to the department.
Mr O'Donoghue said he did not know why Mr Desmond was brought into the Digifone consortium and said he had no role in the negotiations surrounding Mr Desmond getting involved.
Mr O'Donoghue was one of the signatories of a joint venture account set up by Communicorp and Telenor for early expenditure by Esat Digifone.
He said he had no recollection of cheques being issued from the account for payments to political parties but that if the payments had been approved by Mr O'Brien then that was "okay". He told Mr Eoghan Fitzsimons SC, for Telenor, that he had no memory of two cheques for £5,000 each, made out to the Progressive Democrats in December 1995.
One appeared to have been signed by Mr O'Donoghue, Mr Fitzsimons said.
The tribunal adjourned until Tuesday.