An Taoiseach Micheál Martin has called on Katherine Zappone to release copies of her text messages with Leo Varadkar as the Merriongate row continues.
The Tánaiste released his copy of their conversation around Ms Zappone's appointment as a special envoy for Ireland earlier this week.
It comes as Minister for Defence Simon Coveney faces questions and pressure having claimed his phone was hacked and his own texts with Ms Zappone were deleted.
The Taoiseach appeared on The Hard Shoulder on Newstalk this evening in the aftermath and urged Ms Zappone to release her copies of the texts between Minister Coveney and herself.
He also defended Mr Varadkar and Minister Coveney, saying that the latter would make a statement on the incident in the near future.
The Taoiseach said: "I think, in order for full transparency, she should. Any information that's there should be made available.
“The Tánaiste’s been very clear he didn’t know about [the role] until he got that text from Katherine Zappone.
"Minister Coveney has explained to me. I think he [now] wants to go before the committee to give a comprehensive account of it all. He will be making a comprehensive statement on this. He's very clear in his letter to Charlie Flanagan today that he raised the issue of the texts - he wasn't hiding anything.
The Taoiseach also responded to Mary Lou McDonald's claims it was 'one rule for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael'.
"Perhaps you should've asked her at the time of the Barry Cowen incident when she was saying something different. That's playing politics. We do need balance. I made it clear, Barry would not go into the Dáil to face questions on the incident, and I asked him to on multiple occasions, he said no. I was left with no choice."
