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

That was only the week before the Government appointment, when papers were sent for my approval from the Secretary General.

I had specifically asked because I did not want to get involved in the job spec in relation to expenses, payment or anything like that. It was a matter for the Department, which is why I asked the Secretary General to deal with those issues with her, and he did. In the normal way, a memo would then come to me to sign off. From recollection, I was in Africa when it came. I signed off on it, it went to Cabinet and Cabinet gave approval for the appointment. That is important to say. The controversy erupted afterwards. This was a Government appointment and went through the appropriate build-up in terms of assessments, recommendations and so forth.