The Tanaiste, Ms Harney, only discussed limiting the size of supermarkets in "generic terms" during a dinner with senior Tesco executives, according to a senior official in her Department.
Mr Michael McKenna, assistant secretary at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, said he had not been aware, nor did he discover during the dinner, that the matter was being discussed by Cabinet, or that an aide memoire had been sent to Government that day by the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey.
He did not remember figures in relation to the size of the cap being mentioned although he did remember thinking that Tesco was better informed than he was on the issue, as was the Tanaiste. However he said this was not an area he usually dealt with.
Asked if he believed the Tesco executives were aware of the details of the proposed cap, Mr McKenna said the matter had only been discussed in "generic terms". He was satisfied there was no mention of a decision having been made or that the Tanaiste spoke of it as being an active issue at Cabinet level.
The dinner, on May 25th, 1998, was attended by Mr McKenna, Ms Harney, a second Department official and senior Tesco executives, including Mr Maurice Pratt. He said it had been organised primarily to discuss whether Tesco would continue the previous Quinnsworth policy of stocking Irish products. This was when it was decided to leave the decision on the matter to the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, Ms Harney and Mr Dempsey.
A week later the Government noted the content of a note proposing a cap of 3,500 sq m gross. On that day Tesco faxed the Tanaiste a copy of a letter sent by political lobbyist Mr Frank Dunlop to Mr Ahern opposing a cap.
Ms Sara Morris, a former PD press officer now working with Tesco, wrote a covering note with the fax to Ms Harney which stated: "Looking forward to seeing you soon."
The deputy leader of the Lab our Party, Mr Brendan Howlin, said Mr Ahern had denied responsibility for the leak, it would not appear to be in Mr Dempsey's interest to leak it, so he called for a "clear and unequivocal" statement from Ms Harney as to her role.
The leader of Fine Gael, Mr John Bruton, said it was disgraceful that the Taoiseach was not going to investigate the "potentially corrupt" leak from Cabinet. Mr Ahern said in a weekend statement that given the circumstances surrounding the matter, the question of any communication of the Government decision would not constitute a matter requiring further inquiry.
"The alteration of Cabinet decisions without full Cabinet approval subverts the system of cabinet government. This is exactly the sort of subversion of Cabinet procedures that led to the beef tribunal and the O'Flaherty debacle," said Mr Bruton.