The Standards in Public Offices Commission has found that Fianna Fáil TD Robert Troy contravened the Ethics Act in respect of the declaration of properties, a contract and a directorship in the years 2020 and 2021.
In a report, the commission accepted that failure to declare some of these interests by Mr Troy was inadvertent and there was no attempt by the him to conceal information.
The commission did find there was negligence on his part when the contraventions occurred, however.
The complaints to SIPO by TD Paul Murphy and another individual concerned the alleged faliure by Mr Troy in his declaration of interests to refer to his ownership of six rental properties, failure to refer to a particular contract he had with Westmeath County Council, and failure to refer to his directorship of a company called RMT Management Limited.
The report found he had previously declared the interests, detailed them elsewhere in his declaration of interests, or misunderstood the need to declare contracts.
In a statement, Mr Troy said he accepted the matters were serious and he welcomed the findings of the report.
“I have always accepted this was a serious matter and sought to rectify my errors as soon as they became apparent.
“While this is a comprehensive report, I welcome the findings which state that in relation to contraventions of section 5 of Ethics in Public Office Act 1995, the Commission finds that I did not intentionally seek to conceal or avoid public disclosure of my interests,” he 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.”
Mr Troy said he was glad the investigation has been concluded.
