The Zappone text message saga is not distracting from the work of Government, according to the Tánaiste.

Speaking in the North today, Leo Varadkar said he and the Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney have both accepted that they handled the appointment of their former colleague Katherine Zappone to a UN role poorly.

Minister Varadkar said he should have informed the Green Party leader Eamon Ryan and Taoiseach Micheál Martin about the appointment before they learned about it at Cabinet but rejected claims he ‘blindsided’ them.

Distraction

He said he still has the support of his Government colleagues and insisted the saga was not distracting from the work of Government.

“I’m not distracted from the business of Government,” he said. “The work of Government this week - the COVID plan to reopen the country published two days ago, the housing plan that is being published today to help solve the housing crisis - that is what Government is spending its time on I don’t consider this to be a distraction. I’m not distracted at all.”

Special envoy

The special envoy role was not publicly advertised and Ms Zappone relinquished it in the wake of controversy over the appointment process.

The weeks since have seen differing accounts emerge over who knew what about the appointment and when.

Yesterday, Minister Varadkar released his own text messages with Minister Coveney and Ms Zappone about the appointment.

Minister Coveney has said he deleted text messages with Ms Zappone about her appointment to a special envoy role due to security concerns.

He originally told the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee that he deleted the texts for storage reasons; however, his spokesperson later clarified that he regularly clears his phone after previously being hacked.

Questions

This afternoon, the Tánaiste said Minister Coveney is willing to answer any further questions about the saga that may arise.

“In terms of Minister Coveney my understanding is he spent two hours at committee,” he said. “He was willing to go before committee be held to account and answer questions and he is willing to offer further clarification if that is necessary.”

Cronyism

He rejected accusations from Sinn Féin that the appointment amounted to ‘cronyism’ and insisted that special envoy appointments are often made without public advertisement.

“The difficulty here is that this was politically sensitive because it involved somebody who had been a Cabinet minister,” he said.

“We should have seen that and identified that earlier and made sure we flagged it to both the Taoiseach and the leader of the Green Party and we have acknowledged that - but ultimately bear in mind this was an appointment that did not proceed and was not made.”

On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, The Higher Education Minister Simon Harris said he does not believe Minister Coveney mislead the committee – but admitted there are questions that remain unanswered.