Robert Troy admits ‘serious mistake’ over interest declarations

The Minister of State with Responsibility for Trade Promotion Robert Troy has apologised and said he is “embarrassed” by failing to file all his Dail register of members’ interests.

Mr Troy said he was also “embarrassed” by the lack of “due diligence” given to the register.

The minister apologised to his constituents, Government and Dail colleagues, the Standards In Public Office Commission (Sipo) and to the public over the errors.

The TD has been at the centre of a controversy in recent weeks after he failed to declare all details of his property interests.

The minister had to make a total of seven amendments to the register and to Sipo.

“I do hold my hand up. I did make a very serious mistake. And, to be frank, I’m embarrassed that I got it so wrong and that I needed such a comprehensive amendment to the statement of members’ interests,” Mr Troy told RTE News At One.

“The root of the issue here is that I misinterpreted the requirements.

“I was wrongly under the impression that I only needed to declare the interests that I held on December 31 of a particular year, not on an annualised basis.”

Mr Troy also rejected any suggestions he tried to conceal his interests from the public.

“That is factually incorrect. Bar one property, I have made reference to every other interest, every other property, at some stage in my members’ interest returns,” he added.

“I admit not fully, I admit in certain instances not in the right location, but I did not try to conceal any of my property interests in the lifetime of this since I was elected to the Dail.”

He also revealed that he has a total of 11 properties, nine of which are rented out, and is also in receipt of Housing Assistance Payments (HAP).

He said he has three properties in his own name, one of which includes his constituency office.

“I have three other properties that I am in a partnership arrangement with,” he added.

“Within those holdings, one of the properties is sublet into three units and another property is sublet into four units.

“So, in total, I’ve 11 properties at the moment, nine of which are rented out.”

During the interview, Mr Troy admitted he did not give the register of members’ interests “due diligence”.

“To be honest, I’m guilty that I didn’t give the process the due diligence that it deserved,” he added.

“As a consequence of that, I didn’t fully account for my interests.

“I didn’t give it the due diligence that it deserves and I hold my hand up. I admit that I got it wrong and I can assure you that’s not something that I’ll do again.”

He also denied an allegation that he insisted on being paid in cash by one of his tenants.

He said the insistence of cash had a lot of “negative connotations”.

The Longford-Westmeath TD said he had a signed affidavit from the previous tenant who made the allegation which contradicts his previous claims.

“As well as that, for a large proportion of that tenancy, the rent was paid by Westmeath County Council through an RAS (Rental Accommodation Scheme) agreement.”

In the latest error, Mr Troy admitted that one of his rental properties was not registered with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB).

It is an offence to fail to register a tenancy with the RTB within one month of the tenancy commencing.

The junior minster said he asked a letting agent to register the property, which they did not do.

“I’m not trying to push the blame onto somebody else. Ultimately, the responsibility rests with the landlord,” he added.

“But I had asked for that tenancy to be registered with the RTB. It was only in the context of the review of my interests for updating my members’ interests that it became apparent that the registration hadn’t been completed.

“We immediately set about completing it. We updated it and we took advantage because there is an opportunity on the RTB website to pay a late registration fee.

“So we’ve paid that, everything is up to date and everything is up to date with every other property that I own.

“When you ask somebody to do a job, you expect it to be done. Unfortunately, there was an error made on this occasion.”

He added: “I want to say that I take full responsibility for my errors. As soon as they were identified to me, I amended my returns.

“I have said to the Taoiseach and the Tanaiste, I am very happy to address the Dail and answer any questions on this issue.

“I’m happy to meet Sipo, I’m happy to meet the RTB. I am an open book.

“I have absolutely nothing to hide. I never tried to conceal anything and I never tried to use my public position for private gain, but I do believe the forum to deal with this is either in the Dail, with RTB or with Sipo.”

Opposition TDs have called on the Longford-Westmeath TD to make a statement when the Dail returns next month.

Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien said Mr Troy has “held his hands up” and admitted his mistakes.

“I think it’s really important that Robert has held his hands up and said very openly and honestly that he made a genuine mistake, he gave a very detailed interview,” Mr O’Brien said on Tuesday.

“He answered all the questions that were put to him, he has rectified all the errors that were made and, I think importantly as well, he has also given a commitment that he will make a statement to the Dail when the Dail resumes in September.

“That in itself is absolutely important.

“He is engaging with Sipo, he has already informed the clerk of the Dail and he has spoken to the Taoiseach and Tanaiste and said clearly he would welcome the opportunity to speak to the Dail and make a statement, and I think that is appropriate.

“At each stage, he has dealt with this appropriately, recognising he has made a mistake, holding his hands up and correcting that mistake.”

Asked if Mr Troy broke the law by failing to declare a rental property to the Residential Tenancies Board, Mr O’Brien said all of Mr Troy’s affairs are “fully up-to-date”.