Mr James Stafford yesterday rejected a suggestion that he had advance information of what the Independent Radio and Television Commission would ask at a hearing of submissions by applicants for the national commercial radio licence.
Mr Pat Hanratty SC, for the tribunal, asked about the minutes of a board meeting on January 5th, 1988, in the offices of Arthur Cox solicitors.
The minutes referred to £375,000, which was Century Communications' estimate of access to transmission fees to RTE. It stated that "£375,000 is our figure. Commission will avoid that issue."
Mr Hanratty asked who told solicitor Mr Eugene Fanning - who took the minute - that the IRTC would not ask about the £375,000.
"I can see why it might be anticipated on the basis that it's a technical point," Mr Stafford said.
"Doesn't it suggest in the way it's expressed that you had advance information as to what issues the commission would ask you about and what issues in particular they would not ask you about?" asked Mr Hanratty.
Mr Stafford replied: "I had absolutely no knowledge of what the commission was going to ask and I had no knowledge that the commission would avoid this issue. I had no knowledge whatsoever of what was going to happen that day."
Mr Hanratty said Mr Fanning was of the view that the commission would not ask about the £375,000.
"He may have arrived at that view, you'll have to ask him how he arrived at it. It certainly wasn't something that I was able to say to him. I may have anticipated that it would not arise because it was such a complicated technical issue," Mr Stafford said.
He said he certainly did not come to the view that the question would not be asked by virtue of knowing specifically what would be asked.
"It wasn't asked but that doesn't mean that I had any prior knowledge. What you're implying presumably is that I knew prior to the meeting with the IRTC that this issue would not be raised." Mr Hanratty said he was not implying anything.