Fianna Fail Minister of State Robert Troy said that he was "embarrassed at how wrong he got it" after a number of omissions to his Oireachtas register of members’ interests were revealed.
Pressure had grown on Mr Troy and his party to clarify his situation after a number of reports from The Ditch revealed that he failed to declare a property he had owned and sold in Mullingar to Westmeath County Council in 2018. The initial report led to a series of follow-up reports surrounding Mr Troy's declared properties.
He apologised to his party and constituents on RTE Radio 1 and explained that he thought only property in his possession on 31 December of any year needed to be registered. Mr Troy said he recognised that he didn't give the process his "due diligence".
The minister said: "I want to start off by apologising to my constituents, my colleagues in government, my colleagues across the Dail, to SIPO and to the public at large. I do hold my hand up.
"I did make a very serious mistake. I'm embarrassed that I got it so wrong, that I needed such a comprehensive amendment to the Statement of Member's Interests. 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 the 31 December of a particular year, not an annualised basis. I have six properties that I either own or part own. I have three properties that I own in my own name.
"One of those included my constituency offices. I have three other properties that I am in a partnership arrangement with. Within those holdings one of those properties is sub let into three units and another property is sublet into four units.
"In total, I have eleven properties at the moment nine of which are rented out.
"The root of the issue here is that I misinterpreted the guidelines. Some properties were not fully accounted for. The property I sold at Ashfield, Mullingar, it was accounted for for seven years. It wasn't accounted for in the eight year-the year I sold it.
"The property at Oakcrest, Mullingar - it was accounted for the year I purchased. It wasn't accounted for the year I sold it. The property in Longford was not included at all because I bought it and sold it in the one particular year.
"There was another property at Dublin bridge that was included but it wasn't included in the year that I disposed of that property. There is an allegation or a charge that somehow I tried to conceal my interests from the public at that is factually incorrect.
"Bar one property, I have made reference to every other interest, every other property at some stage in my Member's Interest Returns. I did not try to conceal any of my property interests since I was elected in the Dail.
When asked if he read the document before signing it, Mr Tory admitted that he didn't give it the diligence it deserved.
He said: "To be honest, I am guilty that I didn't give the process the due diligence that it deserved. I hold my hand up. I got it wrong. It's not something that I will do again. Ultimately the responsibility rests with me but when you ask somebody to do a job, you expect it to be done.
"Unfortunately, there was an error made on this occasion. It wasn't done but when the error was identified, I can guarantee you that corrections took place. The tenancy has been registered and the late registration fee has been paid. Everything is in order. I asked somebody else to do it. Unfortunately, it was not done. It is done now."
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