Landlord politicians may have to declare housing contracts amid overhaul of ethics regime

Politicians may be asked to declare more information on the Dáil’s Register of Members’ Interests including any housing contracts with local authorities as part of an overhaul of the State’s political ethics regime.

Sources on the Committee on Members’ Interests said they believed rules around declaring contracts — such as those under the rental accommodation scheme (RAS) or housing assistance payment (HAP) — should be changed so that politicians who are landlords would have to confirm if they are in receipt of either.

It is understood that the chair of the committee, Fine Gael TD and former minister Joe McHugh, has expressed a willingness to hold an extra meeting with members to discuss any such proposals.

The Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo), which polices ethics in public life, has been calling for additional powers since the 2000s, but these have not been acted on by successive governments.

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Amid calls for tighter scrutiny of politicians’ business interests following the controversy surrounding Fianna Fáil TD Robert Troy, the Department of Public Expenditure has indicated that a review of ethics in public life will be completed soon and proposals for new legislation will then be brought forward by the Minister, Michael McGrath.

[ Standards in public office body is more lapdog than watchdog ]

[ Our TDs want to be landlords, so why doesn’t the State? ]

[ Troy departure: Ireland’s ethics regime needs an overhaul, but will the watchdog get the powers it needs? ]

A number of politicians have moved to explain why properties they declared as rentals in Oireachtas declarations are currently not registered with the Residential Tenancies Board. Some 24 TDs have listed rental properties on the register of members’ interests and the vast majority of those tenancies are registered with the RTB as legally required.

Former Fine Gael minister for agriculture Michael Creed listed a rental at Railway View in Macroom but the property did not appear on the register. He said this is not due to an error, but is because the property is currently vacant.

Fianna Fáil TD Seán Haughey listed a rental property in Kinsealy, Dublin, which also did not appear on the register. He said the property had been registered with the RTB when it was rented but that it was not renewed earlier this year because it is no longer rented.

Independent TD in Waterford Matt Shanahan listed a rental property in Ballybeg Park which does not appear to be listed on the RTB. He said he believes the property and tenancy are in fact registered with the RTB and is checking with an agent to verify this and is also examining the register.

Mr Troy resigned as Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise on Wednesday following intense scrutiny of his property affairs, which prompted him to make wide-ranging changes to the register. He said he had not tried to conceal anything and that his biggest offence was his “lack of due diligence”.

He said the maximum number of properties for which he was paid under RAS at any time was two, while he received HAP for five properties, which he said are not required to be declared to Sipo.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin is likely to appoint Mr Troy’s successor next week. The Fianna Fáil leader is understood to be considering a shortlist of candidates, with sources speculating about a handful of potential contenders.

These include Kildare North TD James Lawless, Mayo TD Dara Calleary, who resigned as minister for agriculture following the ‘Golfgate’ controversy, and Dublin North West TD Paul McAuliffe. Other potential candidates mentioned include Dún Laoghaire TD Cormac Devlin and Cork South West TD Christopher O’Sullivan.