Sports minister Carál Ní Chuilín has insisted she was never warned of a "Hillsborough-type scenario" over the redevelopment of Casement Park.
The Sinn Fein MLA gave evidence yesterday to Stormont's Culture, Arts and Leisure Committee, which has launched an inquiry into safety concerns around the proposed 38,000-capacity stadium in west Belfast.
Last month safety expert Paul Scott told the committee he had major concerns about the evacuation of people from the ground, but he faced "undue pressure" from government and GAA officials to approve the stadium.
Ms Ní Chuilín yesterday described Mr Scott's allegations as the "most damning" she had heard in her eight years as an assembly member.
She told the committee that safety was paramount to the delivery of the project.
"It's simply unthinkable that I'd want to put lives at risk," she said.
Committee chairman Nelson McCausland quizzed the minister on whether previous discussions about safety had mentioned emergency exiting as a problem.
The minister said safety matters had been raised and that they had not been ignored.
"I want to make this clear, at no time did anyone tell me that there was a Hillsborough-type scenario in waiting and I did nothing about it," she added.
Ms Ní Chuilín said an independent investigation will take place into Mr Scott's claims, as well as a review of the Casement project from a technical perspective, which would be published.
The minister also accepted that she "perhaps should not have made" a claim in a BBC interview that "an anti-GAA element" was making it difficult for the 38,000-seater stadium to be built - a capacity she also accepted may have to be reduced.
Speaking after the committee meeting, Mr McCausland claimed "serious issues" were starting to emerge in relation to safety.
"(The minister) said that she was simply not aware of the seriousness of the problems, nevertheless, what is now clear, and the minister put it on the record today, is that she knew there were issues around the safety of the proposed Casement Park stadium," he said.
"That raises a whole series of further questions and I am sure that committee members will want to question her further as to exactly what she was told, by whom she was told, when she was told and what action she took, or what questions she asked, on the back of that information."
Minutes from a meeting of Sport NI's Safety Technical Group in April 2013 show a Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (Dcal) official attended and the group "expressed concern regarding the exiting arrangements".
Similarly, minutes from a Sport NI meeting in June last year say members noted "emergency exiting" concerns had been raised with Dcal.
Committee member Basil McCrea said he found it hard to believe that the minister was not fully briefed on the safety concerns.
"My contention to the minister is that she should have known – it is the biggest capital expenditure project in her brief and a big flagship project for her party," je said.
During yesterday's session DUP MLA William Humphrey read from the Sport NI minutes and highlighted how Mr Scott had raised a number of "very serious issues".
Ms Ní Chuilín said she would be presenting the minutes to the inquiry but added that "no-one took it upon themselves to elevate it to my level that there were safety concerns".
She said she was "shocked" when she learned of the allegations made by Mr Scott.
