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

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am aware of the matter to which he refers. A core part of the work of our embassies in the EU is to report on views on Brexit in other member states. These reports are an important source of information, not just for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade but also for other Departments concerned with Brexit.

For the past year, it has been the practice for a weekly summary of such reports to be prepared and circulated both within the Department and to other Departments. These summaries, like the reports on which they are based, are not intended for the public domain. They do not include material relating to policy papers prepared within the Department or to meetings of a sensitive character held in Dublin, Brussels or London.

It is very disappointing and regrettable that a recipient of the summary would have leaked it to a journalist. This was the first summary out of approximately 40 to which this happened. The Secretary General of the Department is currently investigating the leak and has been in contact with all recipients of the document, either directly, in the case of recipients in my own Department, or indirectly, through the Secretaries General of other receiving Departments. Until I receive a copy of his report, I will maintain an open mind on how this occurred and how it might best be prevented in the future. In the meantime, given the sensitivity of the issues under consideration, no such summaries have been circulated since 23 November.

It is important to say that these are weekly working documents are summaries. This is not a significant report that was leaked but it should not have happened. We are annoyed about it. The Secretary General of my Department is trying to get to the bottom of the matter. Until we are comfortable with putting in place the distribution system we had before, knowing it will not result in another leak, we are not going to do it.

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