Irish minister resigns over property interests

Robert Troy was a junior minister in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

A minister in the Irish government has resigned amid mounting pressure over errors made in declaring his property interests.

Robert Troy, a junior minister in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, said mistakes were made due to a misinterpretation of the rules around parliamentary declarations.

The issues relate to properties he owned and sold that were not declared on the Dáil (lower house of Irish parliament) register of members' interests.

In a statement, Mr Troy said his biggest offence was his "lack of due diligence", RTÉ News reported.

'Genuine and human errors'

Earlier this month, it was revealed the Fianna Fáil politician failed to declare his ownership stake in three houses, including two which were sold to local authorities.

"One issue in isolation is excusable but the number of errors now that are of my making directly or indirectly has led me to this decision," Mr Troy's statement said.

The former minister said the errors were "genuine errors and human errors and were not intentional".

Speaking to RTÉ News at One on Tuesday, Mr Troy said: "I was under the impression, wrongly, that it was only properties that were in my interest as of the 31st of a particular year that I needed to include."

Calls have now been made for the Dáil committee on Parliamentary Privileges and Oversight to investigate Mr Troy's property interests.

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan told RTÉ News the politician should be the subject of "a full investigation".