Lawyers for the Moriarty Tribunal have suggested that civil servants at the Department of Communications evaded or even suppressed vital information relating to Esat Digifone's application for the State's second mobile phone licence in 1996.
On his 17th day in the witness box, counsel for the Tribunal put it to civil servant Martin Brennan that he and others prepared statements for the Dáil, and the press that were calculated to obscure or evade the true facts regarding Dermot Desmond's involvement in the Esat consortium.
Lawyers say documents written by Department officials, including briefing material prepared for Alan Dukes who replaced Michael Lowry as Minister in late 1996 appeared calculated to obscure the facts regarding Mr Desmond's involvement.
Martin Brennan has rejected this. He says at the time these statements were made - just prior to the awarding of the licence - the Department was getting legal and financial advice regarding a change in the makeup of the consortium.
Just a month before the licence was formally awarded in May 1996, civil servants discovered that financier Dermot Desmond was to take a 25% shareholding in Esat Digifone.
This discovery changed the configuration of the shareholding considerably but it was not alluded to in statements made by Michael Lowry in the Dáil. Those statements were prepared by civil servants. Nor was the issue addressed at a press conference held at the time.
Eight months later, when Alan Dukes took over after the resignation of Michael Lowry, the briefing documents prepared for him by the Department also failed to give a full picture of these changes to the make up of Esat Digifone.
Counsel for the Tribunal has now concluded its questioning of Martin Brennan. Lawyers for Mr Desmond have begun to cross examine the witness.
