A crucial intelligence report that led to the setting up of the Smithwick Tribunal has been given to its legal team, but is so heavily censored as to have limited value.
The report by two RUC Special Branch officers in 1985 stated that then detective garda sergeant Owen Corrigan was passing information to the IRA.
That report was seen in full by retired Canadian Judge Peter Cory and was the ''tipping factor'' in his decision to recommend setting up the tribunal in the first place.
However, when a copy of the report, known as an SB50, was presented to the Smithwick Tribunal it had large areas blacked out, including the grading the information had been given by the RUC Special Branch officers who wrote it.
The tribunal was set-up following the recommendation by Judge Cory to investigate if there was garda collusion in the IRA killing of Chief Supt Harry Breen and Supt Bob Buchanan in March 1989. This form was a key element in Judge Cory's decision.
Today the family of Chief Supt Breen criticised the PSNI for the large scale redactions on the intelligence form.
John McBurney, the family solicitor, said he could not understand why so much had been removed from the SB50 "unless it is to deliberately avoid senior officers having to explain why more was not done with the information contained in it."
The SB50 states that: "Owen Corrigan, a sergeant in the Garda Special Branch in Dundalk is helping out the PIRA. Corrigan is keeping both the boys and the organisation well informed and he lets the boys know what the Security Forces are doing in the North when he can."
Mr Corrigan strenuously denies the allegation. Two other former garda sergeants, Leo Colton and Finbarr Hickey, also deny colluding with the IRA.
The tribunal was told that one of the SB50's authors had refused to co-operate with the tribunal, while the second had initially said he would give evidence but then refused.
Their superior officer known as Witness X did give evidence.
He said he knew Owen Corrigan for several years and he did not believe the intelligence report. He passed the SB50 up to RUC headquarters but he did not tell his own officers.
Although the grade the intelligence was given had been redacted from the report presented to the tribunal, the witness said he believed it was of "medium grade."
"I didn't believe it," the witness told Judge Smithwick.
He said he thought it was more gossip than intelligence. He continued to meet and work with Mr Corrigan after receiving the report, he said.
Under cross-examination by Michael Durack, counsel for the Garda Commissioner, the witness said although he would have seen 50 to 60 SB forms a day he could not remember what would have been written on a particular part of the form.
There followed a series of exchanges between Mr Durack and Mark Robinson QC for the PSNI over a range of issues including the grade the Special Branch officers put on the information.
Mr Durack said if it was of such a low level that it was ignored by the RUC then that was an important issue for the tribunal to consider.
It was, he said, "very difficult" to deal with Mr Robinson as he was being very uncooperative on these matters.
However, Judge Smithwick ruled that the information had been redacted by the PSNI for security reasons and they could not discuss it any further.
If that meant the SB50 was "fragile" then so be it, he said.
The tribunal also heard from the retired head of Special Branch.
Peter Maguire met former British Army intelligence officer, Ian Hurst, at his home in Carrick-on-Suir.
Mr Hurst had said a number of gardaí were passing information to the British security services, including a member of the Seanad who was advising on likely Irish government reaction to British policy on Northern Ireland.
Mr Maguire was adamant that he never spoke to Mr Hurst about Owen Corrigan at any stage - contrary to what Mr Hurst had told the tribunal.
This afternoon, Pfizer Ireland’s head of security Conor Hanlon gave evidence regarding claims that the IRA had access to a million Viagra tablets.
Peter Keeley, who was in the IRA and passing information to the British security services, had told the tribunal that as part of a sting operation he was to buy a million Viagra tablets which the IRA had access to.
Mr Hanlon said Pfizer never had a million tablets stolen in Ireland or anywhere else.
The company only made the component powder in Ireland and it was shipped to Germany or France for production into tablets.
He said he was not aware that their distributers would have a million tablets in Ireland either.
