Top civil servant played key role in granting phone licence

THE SUPPORTING CAST: JOHN LOUGHREY:The phone licence process was designed to prevent unsuccessful bidders suing the State

JOHN LOUGHREY (68) is a former secretary general of the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications.

He was head of the department during the mobile phone licence competition won by Denis O’Brien’s Esat Digifone, as well as during the period when, having won the exclusive right to negotiate for the licence, Esat negotiated and was eventually issued the licence.

Loughrey oversaw the licence process but was not himself part of the team that assessed the six bids submitted to the licence competition. He played a key role in what occured after Esat had won the competition and in particular in the decision to actually grant the consortium the licence.

He told the tribunal that ultimately the decision on the actual granting of the licence rested with him. He had to decide whether the consortium, and in particular its Irish element, had the resources to fund the upfront phase of the project. He told the tribunal the whole process was designed in such a way as to prevent bidders who were unsuccessful from suing the State. He was secretary general of the Department of Energy from 1988 to 1992; the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications from 1993 to 1997; and the Department of Public Enterprise from 1998 to 2000. He was also a member of the IDA board and the National Pensions Board, and was a council member of the Economic and Social Council. He also worked for the European Investment Bank.

Loughrey is currently a member of the Irish Financial Services Appeals Tribunal and the Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland. He is also on the board of First Step, the charity established by Norma Smurfit to help people get started in business.