Century Radio told the Independent Radio and Television Commission it would not pay more than £375,000 for the transmission network and that anything beyond that would be unworkable, despite discussions at a meeting of Century directors that charges would be "a steal at £375,000", the tribunal heard. A letter to the IRTC from Century Radio in February 1989, after it had been awarded the national licence, outlined that the offer to pay £375,000 to RTE for the transmission network was "fair and reasonable" and it was "not prepared to negotiate and increase that figure as it would not be viable". It added the project for a national station would have to be abandoned if £375,000 was not acceptable. A meeting took place days before which included Mr James Stafford, Mr Oliver Barry, Mr Laurence Crowley, the chairman, Mr Terry Wogan, Mr Eugene Fanning, the company solicitor and Mr Colm Duggan, from Arthur Cox Solicitors. A document from the meeting contained the reference "could pay up to £520,000, a steal at £375,000". Mr Stafford said he did not remember who had made that statement, but he didn't think he had said it.
Mr Pat Hanratty SC, for the tribunal, asked Mr Stafford why he had told the IRTC it would not be viable to work the project with a transmission charge above £375,000 if they were prepared to go up to £520,000.
"In the nature of a commercial decision, £375,000 was deemed to be a correct figure," he said. He added he had received advice from the Independent Broadcasting Authority, in England, that £300,000 was a fair price.
Mr Stafford said Century had not lied to the IRTC. "We were telling the IRTC that is our view, that is the view of the board . . . the fact that we might decide to pay more is another matter."
Mr Hanratty asked Mr Stafford if he had dishonestly put pressure on the IRTC to set a reduced transmission charge by saying the project would not be viable if they paid beyond £375,000. "The answer to your question is no," Mr Stafford replied.
"I can't believe this is being asked of me. I don't consider this misleading . . . that is what business is about. That's what business people do," he added.
Earlier, Mr Stafford was questioned about a document written by Mr Eugene Fanning which contained the reference "could pay up to £520,000". "I don't know where the £520,000 came from. I don't know what the £520,000 means," Mr Stafford said. Mr Stafford also told the tribunal he considered £30,000 generous for the maintenance of the 14 transmitters to broadcast nationally, as was fixed in the ministerial directive.
Mr Hanratty told Mr Stafford he didn't believe a report was ever produced that was said to have contained the reasoning behind the figure of £375,000 for transmission fees. He said the tribunal had not seen the report, carried out by the Independent Broadcasting Authority on behalf of Century Radio.