Minister of State Robert Troy has said he is "very happy" to address the Dáil to answer questions as he again apologised for errors he made in declaring his property interests.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, the Fianna Fáil TD said he is "embarrassed" that he "got it wrong" and wanted to take "full responsibility" for his errors.
Mr Troy said he had informed the Taoiseach and Tánaiste that he was "very happy to address the Dáil" to answer questions on the issue.
"I'm happy to meet SIPO [the Standards In Public Office Commission], I'm happy to meet the RTB [the Residential Tenancies Board], I'm an open book. I have absolutely nothing to hide," he said.
"I never tried to conceal anything and I never tried to use my public position for private gain, but I do believe that the forum to deal with this is either in the Dáil, with RTB or with SIPO."
Last week, he apologised for what he called serious "mistakes" in relation to "omissions" he made regarding property he owned that should have been included in a register of politicians' interests.
Mr Troy said "the root of the issue" was that he had "misinterpreted the requirements".
"I was under the impression, wrongly, that it was only properties that were in my interest as of the 31st of a particular year that I needed to include," he said.
"That's why some properties were not fully accounted for."
Minister of State Robert Troy says that the root of the issue is that he misinterpreted the guidelines. | Read more: https://t.co/LiVioAeBYA pic.twitter.com/W8pDjC2u5M
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) August 23, 2022
Mr Troy said there was an allegation of a charge that he had tried to conceal his interests from the public, which he said is "factually incorrect".
He confirmed that he currently owns six properties - three in his own name, including his constituency offices, and three where he is in a partnership arrangement with another party.
Within those three holdings, he said one of the properties is sublet into three units and another property is sublet into four units.
"I, bar one property, made reference to every other property in my members' interests returns," he said.
"I admit in certain instances not in the right location, but I did not try to conceal any of my property interests... since I was elected to the Dáil."
On the one property he had never declared, Mr Troy said he "did not try to conceal it, that was an error in my interpretation of requirements".
He said he was "guilty" of not giving the process "the due diligence that it deserved", which is "not something I will do again".
"I thought I got it right but I didn't, I acknowledge that," the minister said. "I have now made the amendment and I am prepared to deal with SIPO in that context."
Minister of State Robert Troy says he did not give the process the due diligence that it deserved. 'I hold my hand up – I got it wrong.' | Read more: https://t.co/LiVioAeBYA pic.twitter.com/VlUS7e8IbP
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) August 23, 2022
Mr Troy also reiterated that he did not insist on cash payments for the duration of a tenancy, as he said had been alleged.
Mr Troy said this was something he had to "refute fully" and he had a signed affidavit from the tenant in question to contradict that allegation.
Mr Troy added that for a large proportion of that particular tenancy the rent was paid by Westmeath County Council through a RAS (rental accommodation scheme) agreement.
He said that the rent had been paid in cash "at the request of the ... tenant, and that tenant has signed a declaration to that effect".
Mr Troy said that "any cash that I did take was lodged and returned in my annual return and tax paid on it."
He also said that he was without question and "most definitely" in compliance with the Rent a Room scheme, including the stipulation that a family member not be involved in renting the room in question.
The Longford-Westmeath TD confirmed that he registered the tenancy agreement at his former principal primary residence in August 2022, despite the fact that the tenancy began in November 2021.
All of the properties were compliant with fire regulations, Mr Troy said.
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Directorship, Rental Agreement Schemes, Housing Assistance Payment
Mr Troy said that his failure to declare his directorship of RMT Management Ltd was because, as he had believed with property ownership, he did not feel he "had to declare something he had disposed of in a particular year".
He said he had declared his directorship of that company in 2019 and 2020, but not in 2021 "because we had engaged in a voluntary strike off... the company had ceased trading, and it was no longer in operation".
Mr Troy told the News at One that during his time as a serving member of the Dáil he had two rental agreement schemes (RAS) with local authorities.
He said one pre-dated his membership of the Dáil and is still in existence for a two-bedroom townhouse in Mullingar, for which he received €780 per month from Westmeath County Council. He added that this property was jointly owned and so he received 50% of the annual rental income of €9,360.
He said the second RAS agreement was in place from August 2011 until summer 2018 when he said the local authority bought the property from him.
Mr Troy said that separately he is in receipt of HAP, the Housing Assistance Payment, for five of his properties, but he said that HAP was not required to be declared on the members' interests form.
He confirmed that he had two properties in receipt of RAS payments in 2014 when he called for an increase in funding for the RAS scheme during a Dáil debate on the Housing Miscellaneous Bill.
"At that time, I had two RAS schemes, yes."
He also said that "at the time I didn't think I had to declare RAS on the members' interests statement".
When asked if he should have declared his interest in the RAS scheme to the Dáil at the time, Mr Troy said that "if he had felt it was a conflict of interest, he would have declared it".
"If I felt the RAS agreements should have been on the members' interests (statement) then of course naturally I would have said that".
Mr Troy said that the reason he did not feel it needed to be declared was because it was "because of the tenant's circumstances that they were in receipt of (RAS)".
He said that RAS was similar to the HAP scheme, in that the payment is made by a local authority to a landlord, and he said that HAP did not have to be declared.
Mr Troy accepted that RAS was a contract between a landlord and a local authority.
He said that "only two weeks ago" when he contacted SIPO about the RAS scheme, it was "unable to say with clarity if it had to be declared or not" and that "they said that they would need to see the contract".
"The reason why they said that is because a similar scheme, the HAP scheme, does not need to be declared."
Mr Troy said to avoid wasting time and "in the avoidance of any doubt", rather than getting the RAS contract from the local authority, he included it on his amended statements.
Mr Troy said that he addressed the Dáil on a number of issues during the debate on the Housing Miscellaneous Bill in 2014, and he said that his "motivating factor" in raising funding for RAS was "to ensure that people could get access to housing".
Sinn Féin call for Troy to publish evidence
Sinn Féin TD Pádraig Mac Lochlainn has said that Mr Troy needs to publish evidence that he is tax compliant and has planning permission and fire certificates for all the properties he owns.
"We need absolute full disclosure by the minister. We've had this drip feed of revelations almost daily," Mr Mac Lochlainn told RTÉ’s Drivetime.
"He needs to give evidence of tax compliance. He has confirmed that he received cash payments for rent.
"We know that at least one property wasn’t registered with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) as required by law," Mr Mac Lochlainn said.
"He has now confirmed he has nine properties that are rented out. We need evidence that all of them registered with the RTB and that they have been registered for the entire duration they have been rented out.
"He needs to publish evidence that all of the properties he owns have got planning permission and have fire certs. We need that to restore public confidence in this whole issue," Mr Mac Lochlainn added.
Dáil statement would be 'appropriate'
Meanwhile, the Minister for Housing has said it is "appropriate" that Minister of State Robert Troy makes a statement to the Dáil over his property declarations.
Darragh O'Brien said his party colleague was "open and honest" in an interview on RTÉ's News at One today and "held his hands up and said he made a mistake".
Minister O’Brien said Robert Troy has now "rectified his errors" in relation to the Oireachtas register of members’ interests and "brought his records up to date".
He said "all of us are acutely aware of the obligations that we have with regard to public declarations and declarations of interest and I think this would make sure that people are very clear in the forms and reading of those forms and the completion of those forms every single year".
MEP calls for clarity
Earlier, Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher called for clarity on the issue.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Kelleher said he was aware that Mr Troy had spoken to Taoiseach Micheál Martin on the issue and has also released a statement, but that he was also aware there were calls that he should make a statement to the Dáil when it reconvenes.
"Clarity has to be brought to it and certainly everybody would welcome that and I for one would too as a member of the parliamentary party," he added.
Fianna Fáil Senator Timmy Dooley said Mr Troy still has questions to answer, adding that he has made some errors in his declaration and has corrected those and has made a number of public statements about the issue.
In a statement last Thursday, Mr Troy said he had been under the "mistaken impression" that only property in his possession on 31 December of any year needed to be registered and not properties which were sold during that year.
"I take my role and responsibility as a TD for Longford-Westmeath and minister of state very seriously and I fully appreciate the seriousness of my mistake," he said.
"I sincerely regret that my omissions and errors could be seen as my deflection or disregard of my responsibilities as public representative.
"I take full responsibility and I apologise unreservedly to my constituents, colleagues in Government, to the Dáil, and to SIPO for these errors and omissions."
Yesterday Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy said "the drip feed of information" from Mr Troy has been "deeply unsatisfactory".
"As a junior minister in Government, with responsibility for company regulation, it beggars belief that Mr Troy would fail to declare his directorship of a property management company in his Dáil register of members' interests," she said.
Additional reporting Fergal O'Brien
