The lobbyist Mr Frank Dunlop was paid £30,000 by three prominent businessmen for advice that led to the rezoning of land they owned at Carrickmines, Co Dublin in the 1990s, the tribunal heard.
He paid £2,000 of this money in cash to former Fine Gael senator Liam Cosgrave.
However, Mr Dunlop has told the tribunal he never discussed with the landowners - architect Mr Brian O'Halloran and businessmen Mr Gerard Kilcoyne and Prof Austin Darragh - the payment of money to county councillors in connection with the rezoning.
The three men owned over 20 acres of land which is contiguous to the land owned by Jackson Way in Carrickmines. They decided to pool their resources in an attempt to have it rezoned.
Mr Dunlop said he was approached by Mr O'Halloran in the early 1990s for advice on the rezoning of the lands the three men owned in the area.
Mr O'Halloran sought advice from Mr Dunlop but dealt with the rezoning motion himself. He was unsuccessful.
In 1996/97, Mr O'Halloran approached Mr Dunlop a second time. A £30,000 fee was agreed for Mr Dunlop's services and a rezoning motion in the name of Cllrs Liam Cosgrave and Betty Coffey was submitted.
At that time, the land owned by the three businessmen as well as 20 acres of Jackson Way land was rezoned. Mr Dunlop said he later received £10,000 each from Mr O'Halloran, Mr Kilcoyne and Prof Darragh.
Mr Dunlop said he did very little in relation to the O'Halloran land. At no stage did he discuss with Mr O'Halloran the possibility of making payments to councillors, although he did make a number of Christmas gifts. The landowners would not have been aware of any payments he made.
