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Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has denied that he offered Katherine Zappone the job of special envoy in a conversation with her months before the Government approved the appointment.
Mr Coveney told a meeting of the Oireachtas foreign affairs committee on Tuesday morning that he had “raised the possibility” with Ms Zappone that she might fill the role but did not offer her the job.
“I raised the possibility of a special envoy role with Katherine Zappone and asked her if she’d be interested in such a role should the Department develop and recommend it,” Mr Coveney said in his opening statement.
“That phone call was on March 3rd and triggered a text to me from Katherine the following day enthusiastically thanking me for the opportunity. But it wasn’t a job offer at that stage, as I made it very clear that the concept needed to be developed by the department, which is exactly what subsequently happened as the files show.
“Looking back now, I should have been clearer with Katherine on the extent of the work needed in the department before a formal roll could be offered to her.”
Mr Coveney also apologised to the committee for the “sloppiness” of some of his answers to the committee last week, and said that his mistakes had fuelled the controversy of recent weeks.
Mr Coveney is facing questions over Ms Zappone’s appointment as UN special envoy when he appears before the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs on Tuesday morning.
Documents released on Monday under the Freedom of Information Act showed Ms Zappone privately thanked Mr Coveney over the role months before being formally nominated.
Text messages sent to Mr Coveney’s phone released by Department of Foreign Affairs show Ms Zappone thanked him in early March for the “incredible opportunity” of the job as special envoy.
However, other records released by the department show officials didn’t begin discussing the scope of the role for several weeks thereafter.
The records appeared to contradict explanations given by Mr Coveney this summer, when he said the role was not created for Ms Zappone and it was only after the creation of the job was decided upon that he asked her if she would be willing to do it.
However, Mr Coveney is likely to cite evidence given by the former secretary general of the department, Niall Burgess, last week when he said he had a “brief” and “informal” conversation with Mr Coveney shortly after February 24th this year in which Mr Burgess mentioned that the US was appointing a special envoy for LGTBI+ rights and that the department would “look particularly at that area of the department’s work”.
The documents show how Ms Zappone contacted Mr Coveney and officials several times seeking updates on the role, all before she had signed a contract or had the appointment sanctioned at Cabinet level. Mr Coveney has said she did not lobby for the position.
The controversy, which has already drawn in Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar, also reached Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe when it emerged he had referred MS Zappone to Mr Coveney after she sought his counsel on a role at the UN or another international organisation.
The Opposition will seek to press home charges that the appointment was a ready-up. Gary Gannon, the Social Democrats spokesman on foreign affairs, said it “stinks to high heaven”.
In a statement, Mr Coveney apologised for the controversy the appointment had caused, and said he would “give a complete explanation of the timelines and decision-making process on bringing a recommendation to Government to establish this post” to the committee meeting on Tuesday.