Sir Anthony O'Reilly asked the then taoiseach Mr John Bruton in a letter in September 1996 if it was his government's policy to "encourage pirates".
Sir Anthony said Mr Bruton's answer to the question "will be of great importance to us and to our position in assessing our future plans". He never received a reply.
In an earlier letter, written on July 30th, 1996, two days after the two men met privately in Sir Anthony's holiday home in Glandore, west Cork, Sir Anthony outlined the range of businesses with which he was connected and which had operations here.
These included Heinz; Independent Newspapers; Fitzwilton; Waterford Wedgwood; Arcon; and a number of hotels. "We employ over 10,000 people in Ireland and well over 100,000 people worldwide ... I have to say that we have not in any of our enterprises received any help or encouragement from the present government or the ministers," he said.
He outlined a number of issues with which he was dissatisfied. He referred to a letter from Mr Brendan Hopkins, an executive with Princes Holdings Ltd (PHL), to Mr Bruton. "What is required is an immediate meeting with [government adviser] Seán Donlon and the committee of PHL, which should address each of the points raised in Brendan's letter." Independent had a stake in PHL.
Mr Hopkins, in his letter dated Monday, July 29th, 1996, the day after Mr Bruton's meeting with Sir Anthony, said PHL had lost £18.5 million in the period 1992 to end 1995.
He said he understood Sir Anthony had tabled three factors that might improve the situation. These were: action on the pirate groups; access to advertising revenue; and the ability of PHL to offer telephone services via its TV transmission network.
The advertising revenue reference was to do with the idea of being able to insert local advertisements into the advertisement breaks of foreign TV channels.
Mr Hopkins's letter was followed by a meeting between Mr Donlon and IN&M executives that failed to resolve the dispute over the pirate operators. Sir Anthony, in his September letter, said the outcome of that meeting had "very serious implications for all investors in Ireland and in particular an important investment in multichannel television by Independent Newspapers and our American partners, TCI and UIH/Philips.
"The impression I receive is that the Irish government is willing to risk its pro-business reputation and yield to populist agitation by hiding behind, rather than using, the legal process."
Sir Anthony told his counsel, Mr Paul Gallagher SC, that he had never discussed the 1995 mobile phone licence competition with the then US ambassador, Ms Jean Kennedy Smith.
Former Tánaiste Mr Dick Spring said he could recall being presented with a "clear winner" to the 1995 mobile phone licence competition.
He told Mr John Coughlan SC, for the tribunal, about a meeting of a cabinet sub-committee on October 25th, 1995. At the meeting were the then taoiseach, Mr John Bruton, as well as Mr Ruairí Quinn, Mr Proinsias de Rossa and Mr Michael Lowry.
Mr Spring said Mr Lowry told them the scores attributed to the six bidders and that it seemed to him there was a clear winner.
