Licence inquiry unnecessary, says O'Brien

Moriarty Tribunal: The tribunal's investigation into the awarding of a mobile phone licence to Esat Digifone is "wholly unnecessary and unmerited", the former chairman of the company, Mr Denis O'Brien, told the tribunal.

In his first day of what is expected to be a lengthy period in the witness box, Mr O'Brien said Digifone won because it was the "best applicant" and that the licence competition was independent and supervised by external consultants.

Mr O'Brien, in a 46-page statement delivered to the tribunal on Monday night, said he was "deeply concerned about certain aspects of the tribunal's investigation".

Mr John Coughlan SC, for the tribunal, spent much of yesterday reading Mr O'Brien's statement into the record.

Questioning of Mr O'Brien is due to begin today.

Mr O'Brien said the terms of reference for the tribunal required it to investigate any decisions made by politicians in return for payments they received.

The award of the mobile phone licence, though officially a decision by Mr Lowry, "was in fact a decision that resulted from a very detailed public competition that was supervised and adjudicated upon by a project team and external consultants who were wholly independent of Minister Lowry".

He said Mr Lowry "did not involve himself in the process or interfere with its decisions".

He said the tribunal was spending a great deal of time and "unnecessary effort" in investigating Esat's dealings with Telenor, IIU Ltd and other proposed third party investors in Digifone.

"What concerns me deeply is that the standard dealings and manoeuvrings associated with business - and which are an essential part of business - have been elevated by the tribunal into the realm of public interest.

"It is my belief that it is difficult for people from the traditional and conservative professions to understand how these business deals are made.

"It is my opinion that it would be preferable for people with financial experience and expertise to be involved either solely or alongside members of the legal profession in inquiring into these kinds of matters."

Mr O'Brien said the tribunal should confine itself to inquiring into whether Mr Lowry interfered with the licence competition decision.

He said that for the past year the tribunal has been trying to assess the people who assessed the bids for the licence, "which they are not qualified to do and in doing so have been behaving more like prosecutors than inquirers.

"If the tribunal wants me to give evidence for several weeks as to how I do business, I will reluctantly make myself available, but it will be a waste of taxpayers' money," Mr O'Brien said.

He said there was "no luck involved in Esat Digifone winning the licence.

"The licence was won because Esat Digifone prepared diligently, had better and more driven people working for it, and spent more money in proving to the competition judges that Esat was ready to get the network up and running as quickly as it did."

Mr Justice Moriarty asked Mr O'Brien if it was his view that solicitors, counsel and judges might have a "slightly cocooned upbringing" and might not be aware of the type of jostling that went on in the course of major business dealings.

Mr O'Brien said that was "probably correct".

The bulk of Mr O'Brien's statement was concerned with detailing the history of the bid by Esat Digifone and the subsequent award of a licence. Mr O'Brien continues his evidence today and is expected to give evidence again on Thursday.

There will then be a break in his evidence because of other commitments.