Leo Varadkar has said that he was not contacted by an Freedom of Information Officer to check his phone for any records about the appointment of Katherine Zappone as Special Envoy.
Private text messages from the Tanaiste's phone to Katherine Zappone were earlier published as Minister Simon Coveney continues to face political pressure after admitting he has deleted crucial texts about her appointment as Special Envoy.
However after Varadkar released the private texts, it was pointed out by journalists that they were told by Mr Varadkar’s officials that no such messages existed when they made request under the Freedom of Information Act.
Now the Tanaiste has apologised for not providing the texts saying that he was never contacted to check his phone for the records.
Varadkar said in a statement: "I have looked into this with my Department.
"The relevant FOI officer who received the request checked all emails and letters and found no records. I was on annual leave at the time the decision was released and I wasn’t contacted to check my phone for records. We’ll put in place procedures to ensure this does not recur.
"The relevant records are being sent to the journalists. We are, of course, sorry this happened."
The screengrabs released by Varadkar show Ms Zappone asked the Tanáiste about her new role 11 days before Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney brought the memo to Cabinet.
At an Oireachtas committee meeting on Tuesday, Minister Simon Coveney had revealed he deleted text messages about the appointment of Katherine Zappone.
He has said he deleted texts because his phone had previously been hacked.
Screengrabs of text messages show that ex-Minister Katherine Zappone asked Mr Varadkar on July 16 if he had heard anything about her appointment as Special Envoy for freedom of expression.
She also invited him and his partner Matthew Barrett to her controversial party at the Merrion hotel.
Meanwhile Fianna Fail TD Barry Cowan has said the Taoiseach needs to address the issue regarding the "content" of the texts released by Varadkar.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Cowen said that while he accepts Micheál Martin has said that no texts should be deleted if they contain Government business, he believes he needs to "acknowledge" the content of those texts.
And he added that all three parties need to meet and resolve this issue "for once and for all" and get on with the business of Government.
Both Mr Varadkar and Minister Coveney have apologised for “mistakes” they made about how they handled Ms Zappone’s appointment to the role.
However, Oireachtas Committee member, Fianna Fáil Senator Catherine Ardagh has said Minister Coveney should come back in to answer more questions.
Following controversy around how Ms Zappone was selected for the role, she released a statement on August 4 to say she would no longer be taking the position.
