A jury has heard that An Garda Síochána decentralised its system of tyre supply in the early 1990s following approaches from Advance Tyres Company Ltd.
Jack Farrell, sales director of Advance Tyres until 1996, told John Edwards SC, prosecuting, that the system used by the force before 1994 was "unwieldy". All tyres were bought directly from manufacturers, stored at Garda headquarters and distributed throughout the country as required.
Mr Farrell successfully suggested to the Garda that Advance Tyres was able to provide a more efficient and cost-effective service, and the company became the primary supplier from 1994 onwards.
Mr Farrell's successor, now former national sales manager for Advance Tyres, is charged with conspiring to defraud the State over a contract to supply tyres to An Garda Síochána in 1998, following competitive tender for contracts.
Ben Meehan (47), Bettyglen, Raheny, Dublin, is accused of conspiring with his colleague, Michael Queenan, and with Sgt Ronan Dunne to falsify figures so that Advance Tyres would retain the contract.
He has pleaded not guilty to conspiring to defraud the Minster for Justice, Equality and Law Reform by agreeing to prepare a memorandum, purporting to be a price list, in order to support a false analysis of comparative tyre prices, which they knew to be false, on a date between May 1st, 1998 and July 31st, 1998.
The trial continues before Judge Yvonne Murphy and a jury of six men and six women.