An investigation by the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo) has found that Fianna Fáil TD Robert Troy contravened part of the Ethics Act by his failure to declare fully some properties he owned and other interests but concluded that he “acted in good faith”.
Mr Troy resigned as a minister of State in August 2022 after issues with his declarations of interest emerged, saying he made “human errors” which were “not intentional”.
He submitted amended declarations of interests the same month correcting the omissions.
Mr Troy was re-elected as a TD for Longford-Westmeath last month.
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[ Longford-Westmeath: Robert Troy (FF)Opens in new window ]
Sipo investigated Mr Troy’s declarations to the Dáil register of interests for the years 2020 and 2021.
The watchdog has found that Mr Troy contravened the Ethics Act in relation to the declaration of a number of properties, a contract and a directorship in these years.
The commission found that he contravened section 5 of the Ethics Act “on multiple occasions, in some respects inadvertently and in some respects negligently”.
Its report adds: “While an individual error, once corrected promptly, may not in itself be a serious matter, the commission finds that this pattern of omissions or errors in successive declarations was a serious matter.”
However, Sipo also found that Mr Troy “did not intentionally seek to conceal, or avoid public disclosure of, his interests” and “accordingly, the commission is of the view that Deputy Troy acted in good faith”.
Mr Troy welcomed the Sipo findings.
He said: “I have always accepted this was a serious matter and sought to rectify my errors as soon as they became apparent.”
He also said: “The commission did not find evidence that I acted other than in the mistaken belief that my actions in making the original declarations were in accordance with the commission’s guidelines. I am glad the process has now been concluded.”
Reports that Mr Troy had not correctly declared his property interests first appeared in the online news outlet the Ditch.
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