Tánaiste says he has ‘total confidence’ in Minister Troy

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar says that he has “total confidence” in Robert Troy as a minister.

Speaking after it emerged that Minister Troy failed to fully declare three properties that he owned and sold, two of which were purchased by Westmeath and Longford County Councils, the Fine Gael leader paid tribute to the Ballynacargy native’s work as a junior minister in his department.

“I've seen the work that he's done, as a minister of state in my department over the past two years and it really has been top class work, so yes, I’ve total confidence in Minister Troy as a minister,” Mr Varadkar said.

When it comes to any further investigations into Deputy Troy’s failure to the fully declare his interest in the three properties, the Tánaiste said that it is “important, really important, that he should be afforded due process in that regard”.

The Irish Times has reported that the People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy has requested that the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) launch an investigation into whether Deputy Troy has breached his obligations under the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995.

In a statement released to the Westmeath Examiner this week, Minister Troy said that he had “misinterpreted the requirements of the Register of Members’ Interests” and intends to amend his records.

“Last week I received a query about a property I had owned and subsequently sold to Westmeath County Council and upon review of this it became apparent I had misinterpreted the requirements of the Register of Members’ Interests.

“I had been under the impression only property in my possession on December 31 of the registerable year was to be registered and not properties sold during that year. I immediately contacted the Clerk of the Dáil and subsequently SIPO to clarify the requirements and to notify my intent to amend the Register of Members’ Interests,” Minister Troy said in a statement on Monday, in response to the story originally broken by The Ditch website.