The next witness is Peter May, who served as interim Permanent Secretary at the Department of Culture in 2013-14, and is currently Permanent Secretary at the Department for Regional Development.

The committee has adjourned for a comfort break.

Basil McCrea of NI21 asks what the unique characteristics of the Casement Park plans are that make it different from other stadiums.

Mr Harkness says there is a "lack of circulation space around the ground" and issues around the number of exits other than those that back out onto the Andersonstown Road.

Rosie McCorley of Sinn Fein questions how official the manner was in which Mr Harkness made his concerns known.

"Whenever Paul Scott came to the committee, that was the first time I knew that there were huge concerns to the point of a Hillsborough-type disaster looming," she says.

"It frightened me."

Mr Harkness gives her an assurance that the site has not been built and that no safety certificate has been issued.

"No-one is at risk today or tomorrow," he adds.

Sport NI's Nick Harkness says he believes that the "recommendations in the STG, in terms of measures to provide sufficient emergency exiting weren't reflected in the design" at the pre-planning stage.

He says this was in contrast to Windsor Park football stadium in Belfast.

Mr Harkness refers to a meeting on 13 February 2014 where he says "there was confirmation and acceptance from DCAL officials that there was an issue around emergency exiting".

"It was reassuring that the advice we had given was in fact understood," he says.

David Hilditch of the DUP says the evidence given this morning "goes against evidence which has been produced to date by officials".

He adds that the committee will have to make a few decisions as to whether they bring certain people back to answer further questions.

Basil McCrea of NI21 refers to an email sent by the chief executive of Sport NI Antoinette McKeown, to Peter May, who served as interim Permanent Secretary at the Department of Culture in 2013-14, and is currently Permanent Secretary at the Department of Regional Development.

He says in it she was insistent that Sport NI had provided "consistent advice on these issues for some time now".

Mr Harkness says concerns about emergency exiting were brought to the attention of officials.

"I cannot think of words that would express more seriously a concern around emergency exiting other than the words 'panic and crushing', he adds.

Nick Harkness refers to the communication between Sport NI and DCAL since March 2013 which he says warned of a "potential for risk".

He says the documents illustrate that the "risk of potential panic or crushing and the need for the provision of additional emergency exiting" were are "all communicated over a series of months and years".

He says this included two directors, the deputy and permanent secretary, of the department being told.

Andrew Sloan says officials from the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) attended early meetings of the STGs.

He says that in August 2013, the regional stadium programme architect advised that the department was "very busy and did not have the time to attend the meetings and did not require any meeting notes".

Mr Sloan says the architect also advised that the STG could have the authority to contact key stakeholders directly but they would require reports as and when required.

He adds that following DCAL's decision, key officials were regularly kept informed of all decisions made by the STG.

On 30 April, safety expert Paul Scott told the Culture Committee he was put under "undue pressure" to approve plans for the new ground by officials from the minister's department.

He also said he had made a complaint of bullying against them.

Mr Scott, of the Safety Technical Group (STG), said pressure exerted upon him had been "so significant" he had no choice but to raise a complaint.

He told the committee that he had been expressing concerns about the stadium design for two years.

Andrew Sloan and Nick Harkness from Sport Northern Ireland are giving evidence to the inquiry.

Nelson McCausland of the DUP is chairing this morning's meeting of the Culture Committee.

This morning we are continuing our coverage of the Culture Committee's inquiry into issues around emergency exiting plans at the redeveloped Casement Park Stadium.