Minister of State for Justice Frank Fahey has denied that he failed to make a full disclosure of his extensive property interests in the register of TDs interests which was laid before the Dáil at the end of last month, writes Stephen Collins, Political Correspondent
In his declaration Mr Fahey reveals that he has built up a property empire, spanning Galway city and county, Dublin, France, Belgium, Portugal and the United States. In Ireland alone, the Minister owns, or has shares in, shops and development land as well as six houses and 10 apartments.
However, Mr Fahey denied a report that he had failed to disclose a property at Perthshire Road in Boston, Massachusetts, saying he had no interest in the property concerned. He also denied that the property was registered to Fahey Higgins LLC, a Boston-based property company, in which he is a shareholder.
"With regard to an article in today's Irish Independent, I wish to state that I have no interest in a property at Perthshire Road, Boston, Massachusetts," he said in response to a query from The Irish Times.
"My daughter was a tenant in the property and used the address as the registered address of Fahey Higgins LLC. The property is not registered in Fahey Higgins LLC and I have no interest or ownership in the property. It was not therefore necessary for me to declare the property in my register of interests.
"I have scrupulously declared all my interests, including my shareholding in Fahey Higgins LLC along with the two properties in Boston which are owned by the company," he said.
According to the Dáil register of members' interests, Mr Fahey, a former teacher, has assembled a multimillion-euro property empire in recent years. Some of the properties are in his name while others are held in partnership with relatives or business associates.
The former secondary teacher was elected to the Dáil in 1982 and was appointed a minister of state by Charles Haughey in 1987. He was dropped when Albert Reynolds took over as Taoiseach in 1992. He lost his seat that same year, being re-elected in 1997
Mr Fahey was reappointed a minister of state when Bertie Ahern became Taoiseach in 1997 and he was promoted to the Cabinet as minister for the marine and natural resources in January, 2000.
During his period as a minister, he was involved in controversy because of a decision to allocate a significant proportion of the Irish mackerel quota to the factory ship Celtic Dawn, owned by Kevin McHugh.
Mr Fahey was dropped from the Cabinet after the 2002 general election and served as minister of state for enterprise and employment before being move to justice in 2004.
Mr Fahey's declaration of interests for 2005 reveals his vast property portfolio which includes interests in 20 property projects in Ireland and seven more abroad. Many of the properties were purchased in the US, Europe and Ireland with his wife and a company called Sage Developments.
He was involved in a controversy over his property interests abroad in 2000 when it emerged that his name was on the title deeds of a property in Daytona Beach, Florida, that was not disclosed on the resister of TDs interests.