Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is a very fair question. This was the final Government meeting before breaking for the summer and I was bringing six memorandums to Cabinet that day, I think, on a range of matters. There was a Brexit briefing and an update on the UN Security Council. There was a memorandum around the possibility of competing for a sports event and one on the appointment of ambassadors to key roles. In the build-up in the days before a Cabinet meeting, there is always a briefing between advisers to ensure everything is planned. It would also be normal that when briefings are given, names are not necessarily included as attached to appointments out of fears of leaks or whatever before that Cabinet meeting. That is what happened here but that would be normal.

The mistake I made was simply that I should have given the Taoiseach or his key adviser a heads-up. There would have been detail on the ambassadors but there should have been a heads-up on the Katherine Zappone appointment. I did not do that and as a result, when this arose in Cabinet the Taoiseach was surprised by it. He was not annoyed but he was surprised. I subsequently apologised to him for that because it should not have happened. As I stated earlier, the Taoiseach should never be surprised by something that comes up at a Cabinet meeting. It was an error that should not have happened.