The former Fianna Fáil Minister, Ray Burke, has defended his decision to hold a private meeting with Century Radio's bankers in 1989. He also said that he would have no difficulty doing it again. Mr Burke said that there was nothing inappropriate about a government minister meeting bankers of a private company. The meeting was held when Century was in financial crisis. The Tribunal claims Mr Burke gave assurances to the bank that he would cap RTÉ's advertising revenue, resulting in benefits for Century.
Mr Burke said that he merely told them of the Government's general commitment to independent radio. Mr Burke also denied there was anything to hide from his civil servants about the meeting. He said that he did not inform them about the private meeting because he regarded it as insignificant. He also said that he was unaware of a Department of Finance document, which asked government minister not to give letters of comfort to any outside parties. In any case, he said that he had not done so in the case of Century's bankers.
