Michael McGrath was speaking in the city today after Tánaiste Leo Varadkar this morning told RTE's Morning Ireland programme that a memo naming Zappone for the job was on the Taoiseach's desk the day before the cabinet meeting.
The fallout from the controversy has been ongoing for weeks and Simon Coveney will face a motion of no confidence from Sinn Féin over his handling of the appointment on Wednesday.
Speaking to RedFM News in the city today, Minister Michael McGrath says the Taoiseach first heard about the appointment of Katherine Zappone on the day of the cabinet meeting:
"In relation to the issue of the memo being with the department of An Taoiseach before the cabinet meeting; it is not the case that the name of the person proposed for appointment was in that memo. This was in effect an under the arm memo, which means it's brought to cabinet on the morning of the cabinet meeting itself, and that is the first time that the name of Katherine Zappone was shared with the Taoiseach, and with all of the other Cabinet colleagues. So, that is certainly the case."
