Failure to keep record not sinister, says official

FORMER senior civil servant Regina Finn told the Moriarty Tribunal yesterday there was nothing sinister in not keeping an official record of a key meeting with Esat Digifone representatives on May 3, 1996.

Owen O'Connell of William Fry Solicitors, who acted for the winning Digifone consortium, kept the only available record of what transpired during the negotiations immediately before the State's second mobile phone licence was issued to Digifone.

The Denis O'Brien-led consortium beat five other applicants to win the licence competition and former minister Michael Lowry announced the result on October 26, 1995.

Asked if she could recall a note or a record not being kept of what she would regard as a significant meeting, Ms Finn said she did not have any specific recollections. "There was a general practice of note keeping," she told tribunal counsel Jacqueline O'Brien.

"Clearly, work pressures and time availability may have impacted on how efficiently or quickly issues were recorded on a day-to-day basis. I'd say individual civil servants made certain judgment calls about what notes to keep," she added.

Replying to State counsel John O'Donnell, Ms Finn said she trusted Martin Brennan and Fintan Towey two of the most senior officials dealing with the GSM2 project as professional colleagues.

The tribunal continues today.