Mr Ray Burke said he was surprised at the amount of money Century director Mr Oliver Barry gave him when he was Minister for Communications.
He said he was surprised that the £35,000 was in cash and added that Mr Barry had never given him a similar sum of money before that. No receipt was issued for the donation and no record made of it, the tribunal heard.
But he denied that a conflict of interest arose when he received the £35,000 because discussions had been going on between RTE and Century Radio involving his Department.
Mr Burke said he was not involved in the decision-making process over transmission charges, and that even with hindsight there was nothing wrong with the donation.
"I personally did not make any decision in the context of disputes you're referring to. .
"The situation is that I got that donation in May 1989 in the context of a general election and there was no decision-making function for me at the time," he said.
The decision relating to transmission charges was taken in March 1989 and no one then could have guessed there would be a general election in June that year, he added.
He denied that he asked for the money and said he took it to be a personal political donation by Mr Barry.
Counsel for the tribunal said Mr Barry had told the tribunal that the money was a donation on behalf of Century Radio with the consent of its other directors, Mr James Stafford and Mr John Mulhern.
"That's not the way it was given to me and I have no knowledge of the internal discussions that you're referring to," Mr Burke replied.
A lodgement to his bank account on May 31st, 1989, for £39,450 included Mr Barry's donation of £35,000, he said. There was no record of the £4,500, he added.
Mr Burke said he was not surprised to get the £35,000 donation from Mr Barry. He and Mr Barry had discussed the general election previously and the hope to retain a Fianna Fail seat in north Co Dublin.