Health Minister Stephen Donnelly will seek a "full account" after 16 vaccines were given to family members of staff at a Dublin hospital.
Master of the Coombe maternity hospital Prof Michael O’Connell said that he "wholeheartedly" apologised for the incident.
Responding to a query from the Irish Times, Prof O'Connell said: "Had they not been used they would have been discarded. I was keenly aware of that and throughout the evening and from 9.30pm onward I personally made every effort to prioritise and identify additional frontline workers and followed all measures available to me at the time.
“In hindsight, as Master I deeply regret that family members of employees were vaccinated and for that I wholeheartedly apologise.”
And Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said he will be speaking to the Coombe Hospital Board for an explanation.
Mr Donnelly said in a statement to RTE: "Trust in the vaccine programme is of critical importance and what happened should not have happened.
"Our vaccine allocation strategy clearly sets out a priority list for vaccination - and that's currently for frontline healthcare workers and residents and staff of our long term residential care facilities.
"It does not include family members of healthcare workers.
"I will be speaking with the Chair of the Coombe Hospital Board for a full account."
While Labour TD Ged Nash said the news was "hard to take" for many vulnerable people in hard-hit areas.
He said: "Very, very serious questions to answer here.
"Hard to take if you’re a healthcare worker or nursing home resident in a badly affected area like Louth and you’re still waiting for your first vaccine shot."
