A businessman whose petrol station would be bypassed under plans by Dublin County Council gave the former assistant city and county manager, Mr George Redmond, free fills of petrol, it emerged at the tribunal yesterday.
Mr Redmond said he had no recollection of giving the man, who was also his neighbour, advice on his access problem.
He admitted under cross-examination by Mr Desmond O'Neill, counsel for the tribunal, that he received free petrol from the man. "It was very spasmodic. He was off my beaten track. It was a road I didn't use that much," he said.
He could not recall if he attended a council meeting when an application for access to the new route was granted to the businessman under a Section 4 motion.
When Mr O'Neill referred to an entry in Mr Redmond's diary of July 5th, 1998, which bore the name and telephone number of the man, he said he could not recall why they had been in contact. "It could well have been something to do with a mechanical breakdown," he said.