Zappone centrally involved in drafting job description and contract length for special envoy role

Department of Foreign Affairs releases messages

Introduction: Paschal Donohoe has been dragged into the controversy

September 07 2021 02:30 AM

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Katherine Zappone was centrally involved in drafting the job description and setting out the duration of her short-lived position as a special envoy for freedom of opinion and expression.

Internal Department of Foreign Affairs correspondence shows Ms Zappone drafted a “rationale” for the envoy post, which was incorporated into the official outline of the position created for the former children’s minister.

The documents also reveal Ms Zappone was involved in determining how long the contract for the position would last.

In a text message to Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney after a meeting with his department’s secretary general Niall Burgess, she said they “both agreed” a two-year contract would be “more realistic to achieve the objectives” of the envoy position.

In a separate email, Mr Burgess told Department of Foreign Affairs political director Sonia Hyland he updated the special envoy concept after a “good and detailed discussion with Katherine” which included increasing the time frame to two years with six-monthly reviews.

Ms Zappone also sent Mr Burgess her own rationale for the taxpayer-funded position which he said he “really liked” and “took the liberty of incorporating” into the final job concept.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has also become engulfed in the long-running controversy after it emerged Ms Zappone first contacted him about seeking an introduction with United States Agency for International Development (USAID) administrator Samantha Power, who the former minister hoped to work for.