Former Fine Gael minister Mr Michael Lowry wrote to the ESB to inform the company that it would have to allow Esat Digifone to build masts on some of the electricity suppliers sites, the Moriarty tribunal heard this afternoon.
Esat Digifone, on being awarded the sole rights to negotiate for the second mobile phone licence in 1995, wrote to the ESB early in 1996 to ask if the company would allow Esat to "co-locate" its masts on ESB sites.
The chairman of ESB Mr William McCann wrote to a Esat director, Mr Padraig O'hUiginn, explaining that the semi-state company was part of the rival Persona bid for the mobile licence, and so could not open negotiations with Esat about the use of ESB sites.
The Department of Transport, Energy and Communications had already decided that when it awarded the sole negotiating rights to Esat Digifone in October 1995, that, Persona, who had finished second behind Esat in the bidding process, would be asked to negotiate for the licence if negotiations with Esat failed.
In a letter to Mr McCann, Mr O'hUiginn said that it was Government policy to co-locate masts whenever possible. He said that the then minister, Mr Lowry, said the ESB was agreeable to negotiating with Esat and he asked Mr McCann if it were possible to hold provisional negotiations pending the awarding of the GSM licence.
Replying to the letter, Mr McCann said that it "was not factually correct" that it was Government policy to co-locate masts since the ESB had seen a position paper on the matter which, at that stage was still being discussed. He added that the ESB had never informed Mr Lowry that it was agreeable to open negotiations and that his company were not in a position to open even provisional negotiations.
Mr Lowry subsequently wrote to Mr McCann on March 27th, 1996, to say that it was Government policy to locate masts so as to minimise disruption to the landscape. He said the Government would ask all State and non-State bodies to co-operate in the matter voluntarily. He added that if this could not be done on a voluntary basis then he would have to refer the matter to the regulator.
The tribunal is to inquire into the circumstances that prompted Mr Lowry to write to the ESB in a manner that favoured Mr Denis O'Brien's company, Esat Digifone.
It is expected that counsel for the tribunal, Mr John Coughlan SC, will tomorrow finish the tribunal's opening statement which began on Tuesday last week.