Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has insisted there was no “cover up” following a champagne celebration in his department while Ireland was under strict lockdown restrictions.
But Mr Coveney has told an Oireachtas committee that he accepts he should have formally raised a social distancing breach with the then secretary general at the time it occurred.
The controversial gathering was held in the aftermath of Ireland winning a seat on the UN Security Council, while the country was under lockdown in June 2020.
It emerged after a photo of around 20 staff, seen drinking Moet Champagne, was tweeted by the former secretary general Niall Burgess, before being quickly deleted.
The department’s current secretary general Joe Hackett was asked by Mr Coveney to investigate the event.
His report said that a “serious breach” of Covid-19 social distancing rules had occurred but found “no evidence” that any breach took place while Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney was present, or that the event had been planned in advance.
Mr Coveney and Mr Hackett appeared before the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs and Defence committee where they faced questions over the gathering.
Sinn Féin TD John Brady said: “Do you acknowledge you were wrong in your attempts to cover up, in my mind, what was a serious breach of Covid restrictions within your department?
“The deletion of the tweet, the fact that you didn’t raise it with the secretary general, in my view, was a cover up.”
Mr Coveney said: “There was no cover up here. You have a detailed report with a lot of documentation to back up the conclusions.
“Everybody who was involved in the incident concerned has been interviewed.
“There was absolutely no cover up. This was a very public mistake and there was a very public acknowledgement of that.”
Mr Coveney said: “At the time, I saw this as a mistake by the then secretary general (Niall Burgess).
“However, with the benefit of hindsight, I accept that I should have formally raised the matter with him.
“This was a breach of Covid guidelines in the workplace that should not have happened.”
He added: “That photograph and the breach of Covid guidelines, and I am not excusing it, does not do justice to the integrity and dedication of that group of people.
“The photograph was public at the time in June 2020 but the controversy and public anger around it surfaced in late December 2021.
“I was not present for the photograph, and my interaction with the staff involved took place after the photograph had been taken.”
Mr Coveney said the incident at Iveagh House was a “matter of deep regret for all involved in it”.
He added: “I totally understand that people would look at the photograph tweeted that night, and rightly have questions about what was going on, and be annoyed, angry and upset.
“This incident shouldn’t have happened.
“The former secretary general has acknowledged this, and the current secretary general has apologised again on behalf of the department.”
Mr Hackett told the committee: “As secretary general, I would like to say sorry to this committee, and to the public, and to acknowledge the offence caused.
“In doing so, I am particularly mindful of the enormous sacrifices made by our fellow citizens over the past two years.
“The image of staff within the department celebrating has caused confusion and anger among our population that consistently abided by extensive public health rules over such a prolonged period.”
He added: “In the review, I acknowledge the hurt caused and reputational damage done.
“I want to assure this committee that the department deeply regrets the incident.”
