The contents of an EU Commission document that came into the possession of the Esat consortium bidding for the second GSM licence were already published in the media, the Moriarty tribunal heard today.
The confidential document, addressed to the-then Minister for Energy, Transport and Communications, Mr Michael Lowry, contained details of recommended criteria for assessing applications for the second mobile phone licence.
Included in the letter were the wishes of the Commission that the timetable for the awarding of the licence was to be extended by up to two months and that a maximum cap be placed on the auction of the licence.
A solicitor representing part of the Esat consortium, Communicorp, Mr Owen O'Connell, in a letter to the tribunal said he had no direct recollection of how Esat came to have the Commission document.
Mr O'Connell had written a letter to a Ms Helen Stroud in June 1995 that contained details of the Commission's letter. Mr O'Connell said he would have written the letter under instructions from either Mr Denis O'Brien, Mr Peter O'Donoghue - both of Esat - or solicitor Mr Jarlath Burke.
Mr O'Connell said he has no direct recollection of who gave him the instruction to write the letter or how he came to know the details contained in the letter.
Mr O'Connell told the tribunal that Esat's possession of the document did not give it an unfair advantage over other applicants because the details contained in it had already appeared in the Irish press.