Scotland's Health Minister Michael Matheson formally apologised to Parliament on Thursday for returning from a holiday with a hefty phone bill amounting to nearly £11,000 (€12,500).
The Minister had initially asserted that he used his official iPad for work during a holiday in Morocco in December and January last. However, the opposition estimated that accumulating such a hefty bill would have required sending over 8,000 emails.
Pressed to resign, Matheson explained on Thursday in Parliament that his teenage sons had watched a football match on the device.
Admitting that "mistakes were made" by him and by his family, he said he had eventually reimbursed the government. He acknowledged that he should have been more attentive to the SIM card and that he should have investigated more thoroughly what happened.
"I accept full responsibility," he said. "I apologise without reservation."
Scottish Prime Minister Humza Yousaf, whose pro-independence Scottish National Party is weakened by a scandal relating to its funding, said that "honest mistakes happen" and reaffirmed his confidence in his minister.
