Ex-head of department regrets press conference by civil servants

The former secretary-general of the department of transport, energy and communications, Mr John Loughrey, said he now regrets the decision to hold a press conference in April 1996 where civil servants answered questions about the competition for the State's second mobile phone licence.

Mr Loughrey said the talk in professional and business circles in the wake of Esat Digifone winning the competition was raising questions about the competition process and therefore the civil servants involved. Feedback on this was getting to the department and he felt it was "very hurtful to the department, unusually so".

The word on the street at the time, he said, involved people asking how could companies such as A.T.&T and Unisource have lost out to "a Johnny come lately" such as Mr Denis O'Brien. A blind eye was turned to the involvement of Telenor in the Digifone consortium and the focus was on Mr O'Brien, "an entrepreneur, still so young".

People were saying there must have been something wrong with the process. "I know we don't have chattering classes in Dublin but if we did . . . this was at a professional level, not pub talk." Mr Loughrey told Mr John Coughlan SC, for the tribunal, that he felt very strongly about the matter. "As the guardian angel of the Department. I had to look after my officials."

He said he had a "certain regret now but at the time it seemed like an imperative". He also said that "indignation is not the wisest counsel" but that in this instance "indignation got the upper hand on measured judgement". Mr Loughrey said he felt that a lot of the criticism was "not prompted but facilitated" by losing bidders.

He believed the initiative for a press conference by civil servants did not come from the then minister, Mr Michael Lowry, but rather was the result of "bottom- up" protestation. He did not believe the minister was displeased by the suggestion of a press conference.

Mr Loughrey said he agreed the purpose was to put the facts on the public record but it was decided that information on the involvement of IIU Ltd and Mr Dermot Desmond in the consortium, would not be aired.

This was "by design".

The department had received information about the involvement of IIU Ltd and Mr Desmond in the consortium two days prior to the press conference. He said the issue of Mr Desmond's involvement was a "work in progress" at the time. The department was adamant that Mr Desmond's shareholding would be reduced from 25 per cent to 20 per cent but this had not yet been agreed.

"If we had come out with our hands up" in relation to what was occurring on the ownership issue, it would have only added to the speculation, Mr Loughrey said.