Senior civil servant felt political pressure over report

SENIOR civil servant Sean MacMahon agreed yesterday there was political or ministerial pressure to get the State’s second mobile phone licence competition concluded in October 1995.

He also agreed with the Moriarty Tribunal legal team there was tension between his concern, as a member of the GSM2 project team, to make time for more scrutiny and the minister’s desire for speeding up the process.

Mr MacMahon, former principal officer in the Department of Communications’ regulatory division, said he felt the final draft report of the project team didn’t clearly show Esat Digifone had won. “I felt that it was dangerous to let the minister loose with a report like that,” he added.