Mr Justice Flood told the Government he was unable to continue as chairman of the Flood Tribunal a month before the Taoiseach disclosed this information to the Oireachtas or the public.
The Taoiseach revealed this to the Dáil yesterday, and a Government spokeswoman then told journalists at Leinster House of a previously unpublicised series of contacts and letters since May 26th last concerning Mr Justice Flood's wish to resign as tribunal chairman.
While all previous comments by the Taoiseach and Government on the issue have suggested that the first the Government knew of the judge's wish to resign was in a letter on June 16th, this new information shows the Government knew about it three weeks earlier. A Government spokeswoman said this information had been withheld at the request of the Flood Tribunal.
The detailed and sometimes complex correspondence was only released to journalists in Leinster House yesterday after a Government briefing on the matter. Requests from reporters to be allowed see the correspondence before the briefing was over were refused.
Mr Justice Flood met the Attorney General, Mr Rory Brady, on May 26th to tell him of his wish to resign as chairman and not to hear costs applications. He confirmed this by letter of May 28th. The Attorney General sent a copy of this letter to the Taoiseach shortly after its receipt on May 28th.
However, just eight days ago, on June 24th, the Taoiseach told the Dáil: "I have not had an opportunity to study all the legalities in the few hours since I have been made aware of these issues." The judge's letter of May 28th had gone into great detail concerning these issues.
A Government spokeswoman last night rejected any suggestion that the Taoiseach had misled the Dáil in saying this. She said the Taoiseach's comment had not been designed to suggest it was just "a few hours" since he had heard of Mr Justice Flood's intention not to hear costs applications and to resign as chairman.
Rather, he had been saying it was "a few hours" since he had been made aware of "all the legalities" of the situation. This was correct, she said.
In his May 28th letter, Mr Justice Flood asked the Attorney General "to arrange to have the Oireachtas and the Minister for the Environment and Local Government informed of my decision". However the Government spokeswoman said last night that a tribunal representative had then asked the Government not to circulate this letter after all.
After this the Attorney General wrote back seeking clarity, asking if Mr Justice Flood wished him to send a copy of his letter to the clerks of the Dáil and Seanad, or simply to apprise them of his decision.
The judge replied saying he would shortly be sending a further letter concerning his intention to step down as chairman.
According to the Government spokeswoman, the Government took this to mean that he did not at that point want his decision to be known. It was for this reason that the contents of the correspondence were kept secret.
However it is still unclear as to why Mr Justice Flood's June 16th letter - stating again his wish to resign as chairman and not to hear costs applications - was withheld from Oireachtas members for eight days. The judge asked the Attorney General in that letter "to forward a copy of this letter to the Clerks of both Houses of the Oireachtas for immediate circulation".
However, some time that week, it was sent instead to the Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen.
It was only the next week - on Tuesday, June 24th - that the judge's wish for "immediate" circulation was acceded to, after the Cabinet had discussed it, the Minister for the Environment had replied to it and the Taoiseach had spoken about it in the Dáil.
The Government spokeswoman said last night that the Government had felt it important to discuss the matter first before circulating the letter as requested by the judge.
Meanwhile, the Taoiseach told the Dáil yesterday that Mr Justice Flood had dismissed speculation in some newspapers at the weekend that his resignation had been influenced by any action or inaction by the Government.