Tribunal hears of Brussels sprouts

A SENIOR civil servant told the Moriarty Tribunal yesterday he was surprised at being able to secure a copy of a confidential EU document within 10 days of it being issued to an Italian government minister.

In the June, 1994, document, Competitions Commissioner Karel Van Miert criticised the Italians for failing to introduce competition to the country’s mobile phone market.

“I now know how easy it is to get stuff,” said Martin Brennan, head of the project team that conducted the competition for Ireland’s second mobile phone licence, won by Esat Digifone in October, 1995.

Mr Brennan, who was principal officer in the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications at the time, said he had previously worked for over three years with the EU in Brussels: “It’s clear that it is easy to get your hands on material in Brussels. I got this document, even though it was marked confidential.”

Tribunal counsel Jerry Healy suggested the EU was so leaky that non-State organisations, such as business group IBEC, could get access to documents before Irish civil servants.

The tribunal is examining the leaking of a commission document containing sensitive information relating to the Irish mobile phone situation when the second GSM competition process was underway.

Mr Brennan described how Telecom Eireann management and unions lobbied the government when faced with the prospect of competition from a second GSM operator. And it was indicated the competition wouldn’t be launched until a deal was struck relating to the shared use of Telecom's existing infrastructure.

He agreed with Mr Healy that, to a certain extent, the State-owned telecoms company’s approach put it in the driving seat.

About the time Commissioner Van Miert was lambasting the Italians he was also warning the Government here to move to end Telecom Éireann's monopoly of the mobile phone market or risk facing formal proceedings for failing to implement EU law.

In a strongly-worded letter to former Tánaiste and Foreign Minister Dick Spring, Mr Van Miert noted the Government had not yet taken a decision to introduce competition to the mobile market despite giving assurances the previous year that it would.

The commissioner pointed out that Telecom Éireann was continuing to develop its own GSM service in the meantime, acquiring a significant competitive advantage over a future potential competitor.