Businesswoman Gillian Bowler was among 20 applicants seeking costs at the Mahon tribunal yesterday.
The applicants were involved in the tribunal but did not have representation at it.
Ms Bowler was a member of the Independent Radio and Television Commission and had given evidence during the tribunal's inquiries into the acquiring of a broadcasting licence for Century Radio.
Other applicants included Noreen Hynes, who was head of finance at Century Radio, the Labour Party, Irish Nationwide Building Society, Irish Life and Permanent and Lombard & Ulster Bank.
The tribunal has been hearing applications this week from individuals and companies who co-operated with its investigations against former minister Ray Burke and former Dublin assistant city and county manager George Redmond.
The Minister for Finance has contested that the tribunal should not direct the costs of the applicants to be paid by the State and that they would be a significant burden on the public purse.
None of the applicants indicated how much they were seeking.
However, Caroline Costello, of Messrs Gore & Grimes, representing Ms Bowler, said that her client's bill for costs "might give the Minister for Finance more comfort than others".
She argued that Ms Bowler had in fact applied to the previous chairman of the tribunal for limited representation and she did not recall that this had been refused.
Justice Mahon said he would look into the matter.
She also argued that her client was a private individual and the expenses of co-operating with the tribunal were "substantial in the context of any private individual's resources".
Tribunal chairman Judge Alan Mahon said that he would rule on the applications by the end of the month.
Counsel for the Minister for Finance had suggested that the tribunal could seek direction from the High Court on the issue.
A solicitor on behalf of the Labour Party applied for legal costs in connection with affidavits of discovery but did not look for administrative costs.
Brendan Watchhorn, for Irish Nationwide Building Society, said that based on the Minister for Finance's arguments, it would seem that his client was being penalised for co-operating with the tribunal, which was "totally unfair".
