Tánaiste Leo Varadkar says he has total confidence in Junior Minister Robert Troy.
That's despite the Longford-Westmeath TD not registering three properties which were omitted from his declaration.
It emerged earlier this week the Longford-Westmeath TD had previously owned a property in Mullingar and had failed to declare the sale of it to Westmeath County Council in 2018.
Another house of his in Longford was sold to the local authority there in 2019 and was not on the register of interests.
Under Oireachtas ethics rules, TDs are required to declare such contracts.
In a statement to Shannonside's newsroom earlier this week, Junior Minister Robert Troy said, "Last week I became aware of an error I had made on my returns to the Register of Members’ Interests.
"I had been under the impression only property in my possession on 31st December of the registerable year was to be registered and not properties sold during that year.
"This was my error, and I immediately contacted the Clerk of the Dáil and subsequently SIPO to clarify the requirements and to notify my intent to amend the Register of Members’ Interests.
"In light of this, I am in the process of reviewing all my Members’ Interests returns since I was elected to the Dáil in 2011. I am aware of three properties that have been omitted or partially omitted due to my error: Ashfield in Mullingar which was declared from 2011 - 2017 and excluded in 2018, a property in Longford Town, Ash Lawn, which was bought, renovated and sold in 2019 and not registered for that year, and Oak Crest in Mullingar which was declared in 2019 and excluded in 2020.
"In my contact with SIPO it was confirmed to me there is no requirement to disclose the sale of a house under contracts to a public body. I intend to amend and update the Register this week to correct inaccuracies."
Speaking today, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar confirmed that Minister Troy is amending his declaration, but said he believed the actions were "before he became a Government Minister".
"There would be people in politics before they get appointed to Ministerial office may be involved in business and among those businesses may be property."
People Before Profit says Junior Minister Robert Troy has serious questions to answer over property he bought and sold, saying "I still think its problematic to have a Minister who owns multiple properties, who is buying properties in order to flip them, to sell them back to the council to turn them into apartments."
