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Robert Troy

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Robert Troy
TD
Troy in 2024
Minister of State
2020–2022Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Teachta Dála
Incumbent
Assumed office
February 2011
ConstituencyLongford–Westmeath
Personal details
Born (1982-01-24) 24 January 1982 (age 42)
Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland
Political partyFianna Fáil
Alma materDublin Business School
Websiteroberttroy.ie
Constituency office, Athlone

Robert Troy (born 24 January 1982) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Longford–Westmeath constituency since 2011.[1]

From July 2020 to August 2022 he served as Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment with special responsibility for Trade Promotion. He resigned following revelations about his failure to declare property interests.[2]

Biography

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Troy was born in Mullingar in 1982, but is a native of Ballynacargy, County Westmeath.[3] He attended Emper National School and boarded at St Finian's College, Mullingar, and was on the committee of National Youth Council of Ireland. He subsequently completed a certificate in marketing at the Dublin Business School.

Troy was elected to Westmeath County Council in 2004,[4] and re-elected in 2009.[5] He was elected as a TD for the Longford–Westmeath constituency at the 2011 general election, beating the two sitting Fianna Fáil TDs, Peter Kelly and former cabinet Minister and Leader of the Seanad Mary O'Rourke.[6]

Troy was the Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Arts and Heritage from April 2011 to July 2012, when he was appointed as Spokesperson on Children. Following the 2016 general election he was appointed Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Transport, Tourism and Sport.

In July 2020, following the formation of the 32nd Government of Ireland, Troy was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment with special responsibility for Trade Promotion.

Failure to declare property interests

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In August 2022, online news platform The Ditch reported that Troy had failed to declare his full business interests in the Register of Members Interests in line with the standard obligations of a TD. It was discovered that he had sold a property to Westmeath County Council, of which he was previously a member, in 2018. Troy claimed that this failure was an error on his part.[7][8]

It was later discovered that Troy had failed to register the sale of a second property to Longford County Council in 2019, and failed to declare an interest in a third house in Mullingar in 2020.[9] It subsequently emerged in an RTÉ interview on 23 August 2022 that in all, he had 11 properties, nine of which he was renting out; he admitted he had failed to properly declare a property business he was involved in; and he was in receipt of income under the state-funded Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) for two properties. Around this time Troy had also spoken about increasing funding for that scheme.[10]

On 24 August, it was revealed that one of Troy's rental properties had no fire certificate.[11]

Ministerial resignation

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Later on 24 August, Troy resigned as a Minister of State, insisting he had made genuine errors with his statutory declaration while saying he would not apologise for being a landlord. In a lengthy statement, he accepted the issue had now become a distraction for the coalition and the work his party was doing in the housing portfolio. He also criticised media coverage of the controversy. He said "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."[12][13][14]

A subsequent investigation by SIPO found that the failure to declare some of Troy's interests was accidental, however his obligation to make these declarations were inadvertently but negligently breached.[15][16]

References

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  1. ^ "Robert Troy". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 8 November 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  2. ^ Hussey, Sinéad (24 August 2022). "Robert Troy resigns from Minister of State role". RTÉ News and Current Affairs. Archived from the original on 25 August 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  3. ^ "Politics: a young man's game". Westmeath Examiner. 5 May 2011. Archived from the original on 11 September 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  4. ^ "Robert Troy profile: Hard-working politician and unapologetic landlord downed by property interests". The Irish Times. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  5. ^ "Politics: a young man's game". Westmeath Examiner. 5 May 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  6. ^ "Robert Troy". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 11 September 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  7. ^ Moore, Aoife. "Robert Troy flat was not on register". TheTimes.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 August 2022. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  8. ^ Ryan, Philip. "Robert Troy says he made an 'error' in not declaring sale of a house he owned". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 16 August 2022. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  9. ^ Brennan, Cianan (15 August 2022). "Minister 'misinterpreted the requirements' after failure to declare second house in Longford". Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 16 August 2022. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  10. ^ Ryan, Philip (23 August 2022). "Fianna Fáil Junior Minister Robert Troy has nine rental properties and gets Housing Assistance Payment for five tenants". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 25 August 2022. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  11. ^ O'Connell, Hugh (24 August 2022). "Property co-owned by junior minister Robert Troy probed for breaching planning laws". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 25 August 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  12. ^ O'Connell, Hugh; Molony, Senan; Lynott, Laura (24 August 2022). "Robert Troy resigns as junior minister amid pressure over his property portfolio". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 25 August 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  13. ^ Leahy, Pat (24 August 2022). "Robert Troy resigns as minister of State after property interests controversy". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 25 August 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  14. ^ "Resignation of Minister of State" (PDF). Iris Oifigiúil. 2022 (68): 987. 30 August 2022. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  15. ^ O'Cearbhaill, Muiris (10 December 2024). "Ethics investigation finds Robert Troy made genuine, but avoidable, declaration errors". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  16. ^ Mag Raollaigh, Mag (11 December 2024). "SIPO finds FF's Troy contravened Ethics Act, but no attempt to conceal information". RTÉ. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
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Political offices
Preceded byas Ministers of State at the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
2020–2022
With: Damien English 		Succeeded by
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