IT MUST have seemed like a good idea at the time: to give a long-standing supporter a compensatory piece of the international limelight while, at the same time, lightening the onerous work-load of another.
But Government structures are rigid things. And the Ministers and Secretaries Act defines powers and responsibilities in a way that resists cavalier change.
So while Bertie Ahern wanted to do certain things to mollify a friend and to make the work of Government more efficient, it may require special legislation to give them effect.
It was the first tiny chink in the new Government's armour, and John Bruton and Dick Spring were quick to slide in the knife.
The Fine Gael leader expressed concern that the overlap of functions between Mr Andrews and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Burke, was a recipe for confusion and difficulty. Mr Andrews was effectively being made a junior Minister at the Department of Foreign Affairs, he said, and subservient to Mr Burke; this was not provided for under Cabinet structures.
The Labour Party leader believed the whole scheme to be at least illegal and, at worst, unconstitutional. Within hours, Mr Spring had refined his position.
The proposal, he said, ran counter to the Ministers and Secretaries Act, which made clear that the conduct of transactions between the Government and any other government is a matter for the Minister for Foreign Affairs and not for any other Minister."
The Government was authorised under the Act to transfer business from one Minister to another, Mr Spring added, "but it is clear that business taken from one Minister to another cannot be exercised by both simultaneously.
There is no power whatsoever for the Government to provide that the acts of one Minister will be `under the direction' of another Minister."
So what had Mr Ahern done to raise such a hue and cry? He said that Mr Andrews would, in addition to his functions at Defence, "have a responsibility under the direction of the Minister for Foreign Affairs for European Affairs."
Modern Ministers, Mr Ahern explained, had a heavy schedule of meetings in relation to Northern Ireland, Europe and internationally. Mr Burke needed to be able to share the burden of attending these meetings "without loss of function or overall policy direction" with another colleague of Cabinet rank.
The newly-designated Minister for Defence and European Affairs would not, he said, "be removing any function from Foreign Affairs, where he will have a second office, but will be sharing in the work.
"I also envisage that he will assist the Minister for Foreign Affairs in representing the Government at the Northern Ireland peace talks, so that there is less need to rotate attendance and multiply the number of Ministers that have to be briefed," the Taoiseach declared.
Mr Andrews hugely enjoyed his term as minister for foreign affairs in Mr Albert Reynolds's first government. And the extra responsibilities granted to him on Thursday by Mr Ahern were clearly designed to make his appointment as Defence Minister more palatable.
But within 24 hours of announcing his Cabinet plans to the Dail, Mr Ahern was forced to bin his proposal to give Mr Andrews formal responsibility for European Affairs with a special office in the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The welter of opposition criticisms caused the Taoiseach to rethink the situation yesterday. As a consequence Mr Andrews's title contracted from "Minister for Defence and European Affairs" to simple "Minister for Defence".
According to Government sources, he will function in the European role only when Mr Burke is not available. In the past, however, Ministers have been known to be extraordinarily protective of their patch and, for Mr Ahern's idea to work, the full-blooded co-operation of Mr Burke would be required.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs is not renowned for his open-handed, political generosity. But, as a close confidant of Mr Ahern, he may be persuaded to share some of the high-profile responsibilities that go with his new Department.