The Foreign Affairs Minister offered Katherine Zappone a UN role four months before being agreed by Cabinet.
Text messages between the pair have been released by the Department of Foreign Affairs this evening.
On Thursday March 4th, Katherine Zappone texted Minister Simon Coveney thanking him for the "incredible opportunity" and said she will be so proud to serve Ireland again.
In an email dated to the secretary general of the department on July 22nd, Katherine Zappone confirmed she had text Minister Simon Coveney about the timeframe of her new role and the details of the job.
Documents released by the Dept show the remit of the role was altered following a meeting between the secretary-general and Ms Zappone.
The email was sent 5 days before the appointment was brought to Cabinet, leaving the Taoiseach "blindsided".
Speaking earlier, Taoiseach Michael Martin said the government will learn lessons from the controversy.
"Well as I said, I can't speak on behalf of the opposition and the opposition may take a view one way or the other."
"I can give my own view in terms of the government perspective, we are going to learn lessons from and change certain things on the way we do this into the future."
