Mr. Paul Maloney:

Absolutely not, and for a number of reasons. First, I am not intimidated by that sort of a reputation and I did not know these people. I only met them at board meetings. Second, every paper that was brought to the board was done by the executive, independent of board members. Mr. Bradshaw, or anybody else, never had an input into that. Therefore, the executive came with independent professional advice. Third, the way the board meetings were conducted, Mr. Bradshaw gave everybody, including the executive, who were not board members, the opportunity to make any comment or objection to whatever decision was being made on the basis of independent professional advice.

I state clearly that every decision that was made in regard to the Irish Glass Bottle site came from the independent professional advice of an executive with 20 years experience. There was no interference from outside, as can be seen in all of the board papers before the committee, not even a telephone call or a conversation. The only conversation was the one I have reported to this committee and that was about who I should approach as a developer. My suggestion - both suggestions - were agreed with and I want to be very clear on my evidence on that.