Coveney: Zappone offer to help team in New York 'was not lobbying'

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has said he was not lobbied by Katherine Zappone for the position of Special Envoy for Freedom of Expression to the UN.

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has said he was not lobbied by Katherine Zappone for the position of Special Envoy for Freedom of Expression to the UN.

Addressing the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence today, Mr Coveney said he and Ms Zappone had spoken after she stepped down as minister last summer.

He claimed that it was a conversation “wishing her well for the future”. 

Mr Coveney said that Ms Zappone told him "anything I can do to help your team in New York, I'd be really interested in doing that, either in a private capacity or professional capacity".

He said he did not believe this constituted lobbying him for a job.

Mr Coveney said that claims the two were close friends was not an “accurate assessment” but that they had “ a good professional relationship”. 

He said Ms Zappone had “campaigned all of her life on issues of equality”. 

Mr Coveney confirmed that he had approached Ms Zappone to ask if she would be interested in taking on the job, in principle, to which she said she would.

Not involved

However, he said he was not involved in the negotiation of terms and conditions and that he had "never spoke to Katherine Zappone about money".

Mr Coveney said Leo Varadkar was not involved in the discussions and was only informed when it was brought to Cabinet.

He also added that mistakes were made, which he regrets.

“We should never have a situation in a Government meeting where the Taoiseach learns something for the first time at Cabinet,” he said, adding that he was sorry for that.

Mr Coveney said he had brought a lot of memos to Cabinet on that day. He added, accepting fault, that it didn’t come up in the briefings between the party leaders and their teams, “and it should have”. He went on to say that the Taoiseach raised it at Cabinet and that the appointment was approved.

'Shouldn't have happened'

“But I did ring them after that to say that it shouldn't have happened,” he added.

Following widespread controversy over the appointment, which would have seen Ms Zappone receive €15,000 for 60 days of work a year, she declined the position.

Mr Coveney also said that Ms Zappone had sent him a text about her Merrion Hotel party.

Previously, the minister's spokesperson had said he had not received an invitation and the first time he had heard about it was through media reports.

Mr Coveney said he did not consider it to be a formal invitation and had no intention of going. 

He also confirmed he told the Tánaiste, prior to the Merrion Hotel party, about the UN special envoy role.