Robert Troy to appear before Sipo hearing over failure to declare property interests

Robert Troy is to appear before a hearing of the Standard in Public Office (Sipo) committee on Monday over a failure to fully declare property interests.

The Longford-Westmeath TD resigned as Minister of State for Enterprise, Trade and Employment in August 2022, after it emerged he hadn't fully declared property interests to the Oireachtas.

It followed media reports by news website The Ditch around his declarations for 2020 and 2021.

The Ditch website first reported that Mr Troy had previously owned a property in Mullingar that he failed to declare the sale of to Westmeath County Council in 2018.

Oireachtas ethics rules require public office holders to declare contracts that they were a part of, directly or indirectly, if the value of the goods or services exceeded €6,500.

Mr Troy said at the time he acted in "error" and was "embarrassed" that he did not fully disclose all of his properties, adding that he owns, or part owns, six properties.

He said he currently has three properties in his own name and three in a partnership agreement.

Mr Troy claimed to have misinterpreted the requirements to disclose all of his properties, stating he thought he had to include only the holdings in place on the last day of the year of the return.