A Department of Transport report published last night supports Noel Dempsey's declaration that he was not told about the threat to the Shannon-Heathrow route until August 3rd.
In her report, department secretary general Julie O'Neill said she became aware of the concerns that Aer Lingus was considering cutting the route on June 14th, some six weeks before the Minister for Transport was briefed.
Speaking this morning, Mr Dempsey said one of the findings from the report was how sensitive Department officials were to the political implications of changes to the Shannon-Heathrow route.
On RTÉ's Morning Irelandhe denied he had been told about the route move but had forgotten. "No, I am quite satisfied that I didn't. The information was not passed on to me".
Noel Dempsey
Mr Dempsey said he was accepting the report and the apology from the official involved and now wanted to get on with the work.
In her report, Ms O'Neill says she had received an e-mail from Department of Transport assistant secretary John Murphy on the evening of June 14th, expressing concerns about the Aer Lingus plans.
The following morning, according to the report, Ms O'Neill spoke to Aer Lingus chairman John Sharman and asked him about "the imminence" of a Belfast announcement but was told that no decisions had been taken.
Ms O'Neill says in her report Mr Sharman had assured her that no "hasty decision" would be made.
As a result, believing that "the immediate urgency had gone", she said she had told Mr Murphy that the hub plan was "at quite an early stage of development and relatively low" on Mr Sharman's priorities.
During a first briefing with the new Minister six hours later that day, Ms O'Neill said she had mentioned a number of aviation matters "which, at the time, were of more immediate concern" but not the Shannon-to-Heathrow link.