Robert Troy has sensationally resigned as a minister following pressure from his government colleagues urging him to consider his position.
The Fianna Fáil TD and junior minister in the Department of Enterprise had been fighting for his political life following a series of revelations concerning his significant property portfolio.
The minister admitted he made “serious mistakes” when he didn’t declare a number of properties of the 11 he owned, or part-owned, on the official Dáil register.
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In a statement on Wednesday night, he said: “I am issuing this statement as a serving TD for the constituency of Longford/Westmeath to officially announce my resignation as a Minister of State.
“The last ten days have been extremely difficult, but I would like to sincerely thank the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, and the large number of colleagues across the political divide who have shown their support and who continue to have trust in me.
“I would like to take this opportunity to assure members of the public once again that I have not tried to conceal anything.
“My biggest offence is my lack of due diligence.
“However, one issue in isolation is excusable but the number of errors now that are of my making directly or indirectly has led me to this decision.
“I am sorry that it has caused so much upheaval and has distracted from the serious issues at hand in this country and the good work this government is doing, and my party is doing, particularly in housing.
“I do however want to stress they were genuine errors and human errors and were not intentional.
“I hold myself to a high standard and that is the reason I have taken this decision of my own counsel.
“I would like to reaffirm that I am more than happy to answer any questions SIPO or the RTB have and will of course give a full account in the Dail if required once it returns.
“While I accept my mistakes, I would like to state that the narrative being put forward by some media and some in the opposition that landlords are villains is simply wrong.
“I am acutely aware of the sensitives of the housing situation in Ireland, and on a continuous basis work to assist constituents address their housing needs – but vilifying landlords is not the answer, and it will not help the problem.
“I personally will not apologise for being a landlord.
“I bought my first house at the age of 20 as I went straight into a job after school, so I was in a position to purchase my first property then.
“I am not a person of privilege and I have not been brought up with a silver spoon in my mouth, I have worked for all I have.
“While I appreciate elected representatives have to be held to high standards, I would ask the journalists and the authors of a particular website who relentlessly pursued this story to consider how ethical their work has been.
“Some media has taken stories verbatim without verification that have been factually incorrect, they have printed inaccurate headlines and misleading articles and failed to make corrections when asked.
“Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to assure my constituents and supporters that I will continue to work as diligently as I always have as a TD, and that I will continue to give my full commitment to my party.
“It’s been the privilege and honour of my life to serve in this Government and to serve my party as a minister and I look forward to being in a position to serve in Government again one day.
“Thank you and I would now appreciate some time, space, and privacy at this time from all media.”
Taoiseach Micheál Martin paid tribute to his former minister as he accepted his resignation.
He said: “It is with regret that the Taoiseach has accepted the resignation of Minister of State Robert Troy.
“Robert has been a very committed, hardworking and efficient Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment, in particular working with SMEs and preparing legislative reforms for the PIAB.
“The Minister clearly acknowledged that he made serious errors in relation to his declarations to the Register of Member’ Interests, and he sincerely apologised for this.
“Since his election to Dáil Éireann, his commitment to his constituents and dedication to his work has been beyond question.”
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