The former minister for transport, energy and communications, Mr Michael Lowry, told the Moriarty tribunal he did not interfere at any level in the process of awarding a mobile phone licence to Esat Digifone in 1996.
The process was conducted in a fair and impartial way by professional consultants. It was completely free of any interference or outside political influence. He did not at any stage influence the outcome.
He said he knew nothing about how a $50,000 political payment to Fine Gael at that time was raised or about how it was paid. He believed such a payment from any of the companies competing for a State mobile phone licence in late 1995 and early 1996 would have been both "wrong and unwise".
The tribunal has previously heard that a payment of $50,000 was made by Telenor, a partner with Mr Denis O'Brien's firm, Esat Telecom, in the Esat Digifone company, to an offshore account.
This account was held in the name of the late Mr David Austin, a Smurfit executive who was involved in fundraising for Fine Gael. Mr Austin was a close friend of Mr Lowry, who was ultimately responsible for the award of the State's second mobile phone licence to Esat Digifone.
Mr Austin later paid the money to Fine Gael in the guise of a personal donation, just before the 1997 general election.
Mr Lowry was asked whether he believed it would have been appropriate for Mr O'Brien, or any company with which he was associated, to make a payment to Fine Gael when a decision was about to be taken on the licence.
"Personally, I would have had no difficulty with it, in the context of I being the one who knew exactly what happened," he said.
Mr Lowry had earlier told the tribunal he had never interfered with or influenced the outcome of the deliberations on the licence. The process had been conducted in a totally fair and impartial way by professional consultants, he said.
The award of the licence, which was ultimately given to Esat Digifone in May 1996, had been the source of much speculation, Mr Lowry admitted.
Asked if it would have been appropriate for him or anyone involved in one of these companies to have contact while the licence was being decided, he replied: "I would not consider it appropriate on the basis of seeking such funding. But with the knowledge I had that the licence was completely free of any interference or outside political influence, with that knowledge you could consider it."
But, personally, he would not have considered it appropriate. Against the background of "outrageous innuendo and gossip which enveloped this country and still does", he would "not be looking for a political donation". He agreed it would have been "unwise" and "wrong".
Asked by Mr Jerry Healy SC, for the tribunal, about the "incredible degree of secrecy" surrounding the payment, Mr Lowry said he only knew what he had read in the media.
"It was certainly an unusual contribution. I would have to say the circumstances in which the contribution was routed were certainly unusual." However, he was "long gone" from Fine Gael at the time the money was paid by Mr Austin. He was fighting a battle for election as an independent.
He would have had no access to the personnel in Fine Gael who would have been aware of the payment.