Mr. Martin Fraser:

The committee has asked me to outline the process around this appointment. My involvement in this was exclusively in respect of my role as Secretary to the Government. The Chairman will be aware, but other people may not know, that I have two roles. My role as Secretary to the Government involves management of Government meetings, in respect of which I work with a small team of civil servants in the Cabinet secretariat, which looks after the agendas, memorandums, decisions, minutes and follow-up that is required. This is an important part of Government work and one that is not often discussed although it has been in place for decades. It is a traditional but rigorous process around Government meetings.

In terms of this specific Government decision, it was made at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, 27 July. In terms of process, on the preceding Friday, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, circulated a memorandum to his colleagues stating that he proposed to seek approval for ambassadorial appointments and a special envoy, but he did not include the names in the memorandum circulated on that Friday. We produced a briefing note, which goes to the Taoiseach and other people, outlining what is on the agenda. The final agenda for that meeting included 41 items. The briefing note would have stated that the Minister, Deputy Coveney, would bring the names to the meeting. In the event, before that meeting, on the Monday evening at 9.24 p.m., I received an email from the Secretary General at the Department of Foreign Affairs with the final memo, which is entirely normal. I get the final copies of memos from Departments because we need to have them on our file for the Cabinet meeting so we can make sure the correct memorandum is there and to make sure the correct decision is made and so on and so forth. The following morning, I sent that final copy of the memorandum to my colleague, the assistant Secretary to the Government and to my private secretary. That was because they are in charge of the paperwork for the Cabinet meeting. They would have ensured they were with the Cabinet papers for me going to the meeting. As it happened - not as it happened, but further to the process - the Department of Foreign Affairs would have sent a copy of the final memo at assistant secretary level the following morning. I can get the exact time, but I think this is happening at 9.21 a.m.. That is when I forwarded the memo and, I think, 9.41 a.m. is when the Department of Foreign Affairs sent us the memo for the second time effectively. Finally, the Minister did what he was supposed to do, that is, he brought the final memo to the Cabinet meeting. He brought it in-person, with all of the names of all of the ambassadors to be appointed, which, as the committee will be well aware, included my name, and the special envoy. That was distributed to the members of the Cabinet at the Cabinet meeting on 27 July. The Government then approved the Minister's proposal.

That is what happened. I am happy to take any questions.