Mr Ray Burke has defended his decision to reduce significantly transmission charges to Century radio on the basis that he was trying to get the station on air as quickly as possible.
The Flood tribunal heard that a directive issued by the former minister for communications in March 1989 reduced agreed transmission charges to Century radio by £598,350 a year and by £222,500 in once-off fees.
"The reality is that what I was asked to do was make a decision by the IRTC. I made the decision, to get the show on the road," Mr Burke said.
The tribunal was told that, on February 15th, 1989, Mr Burke's department and RTE agreed a yearly charge of £871,350 for services such as maintenance and access to transmission sites and a once-off fee of £485,00.
Following Mr Burke's directive, these charges were reduced to about £273,000 and £262,500 respectively.
Mr Burke accepted there was a major difference between the figures agreed in February and the final figures, but said the earlier figures were "never a runner" and he was under political pressure to make a decision. "I made it in good faith."
Lawyers for the tribunal also questioned Mr Burke's power to order RTE to purchase transmission equipment for Century radio.
In a letter to Mr Vincent Finn, then director general at RTE on March 14th, 1989, Mr Burke instructed that this equipment be financed over a 14-year period with capital costs and interest charges levied to Century during that time.
He said he understood he had this power under Section 16 of the Radio and Television Act. "That Section says absolutely nothing whatsoever about giving you any power to direct RTE to purchase transmission equipment for any independent operator," Mr Patrick Hanratty SC, for the tribunal said.
Asked six times if anyone had told him he had this power under the Section, Mr Burke said: "Nobody advised me that I hadn't got the power to do it."
