Taoiseach Micheál Martin has revealed that the apartment he lives in when in Dublin is not registered on the Dáil register because it is in his wife’s name.
Mr Martin’s family also has a holiday home in Courtmacsherry, Cork, which is not mentioned on the Members’ interests register either. The Taoiseach lists his property interests as ‘Nil’ on the official Dáil record.
Fianna Fáil junior minister, Robert Troy, was forced to resign last month after his failure to properly declare 11 properties he owned on his own Dáil record. The Westmeath TD was the subject of a sustained series of stories concerning his property interests and he admitted making “mistakes” on what he disclosed to the Dáil authorities.
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Mr Martin was speaking to reporters from Ireland House, the official home of the Irish consulate, in New York city on Friday evening. He was asked about his own property interests and he said: “Let’s be honest about it and straightforward.
“I mean there are very clear guidelines there in respect of a holiday home and in respect of…. it’s in Courtmacsherry, it’s a holiday home, I make no secret of it and at the same time it’s not declarable under the rules and the guidelines, that’s always been the case from the beginning.”
He was asked what was the situation with the property in Dublin and he said: “that’s similar.” We then asked him to clarify exactly who owned the property he uses in Dublin and he replied: “my wife owns that.”
The Taoiseach defended not mentioning putting his holiday home on the Dáil register. He said: “it’s in the guidelines, they don’t (have to be declared on the Dáil register of Members’ interests), that’s the other side of the coin.
“And the reason for that I presume when the legislation was passed was privacy, or whatever, so that’s the background to it. But everybody kind of knows that I have it…. in Courtmacsherry.”
Robert Troy’s downfall was the political story of the summer this year and it once again shone the spotlight on the property interests of politicians. Mr Troy resigned on August 24 and he said mistakes were made due to a misinterpretation of the rules around parliamentary declarations.
The issues related to properties he owned, bought and sold, that were not declared on the register of members’ interests. In his resignation statement, the former junior minister defended his actions once more, saying his biggest offence was his “lack of due diligence.”
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