Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On 4 March, things had moved swiftly between the first phone call the Minister had with Katherine Zappone and his conversation with his Secretary General. Katherine Zappone believed - mistakenly, according to the Minister - she had been offered a job but it was subject to a Department review of whether such a role was required. Yet she queried the time period of the appointment and what the next steps she needed to take were. For any of us watching, the Minister is honestly asking us to believe that Katherine Zappone, somebody who was a Minister, had mistakenly believed she had been offered a job, because she was asking the Minister, Deputy Coveney, what the time period of this appointment was and what the next steps were. The Minister is saying the conversation they had was around a concept role she would have and that she would engage with the Department around the role. The Minister says it would have been helpful to have clarified at that point that it was not a job offer, and he did not do that.

In May, Katherine Zappone asked if there was any word of the job and a June start date, which should have set off alarm bells within the Department that this woman clearly thought she had a job and it had not been finalised. When was she offered the job and how was that done? Was it done over the phone, through email or through a WhatsApp message? How and on what date was Katherine Zappone officially informed she had a role as a special envoy?