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Irish politician defends wife's purchase of council property

Dáil Éireann TD Niall Collins Dáil Éireann
Niall Collins was a member of Limerick County Council in 2007
  • Fianna Fáil TD Niall Collins is facing ongoing scrutiny over a local council's decision to sell a property that was ultimately bought by his wife
  • Mr Collins was a member of Limerick County Council when it agreed to sell the property in January 2007
  • The house was subsequently bought by Mr Collins' wife in September 2008, after he had left the council to become a member of parliament
  • Mr Collins says neither he or his wife had "any pecuniary or beneficial interest in that property" when he was a councillor
  • Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tánaiste Micheál Martin both say Mr Collins has not broken any laws but others are calling for him to answer questions at the Irish parliament

A member of the Irish parliament has said he has done nothing wrong as scrutiny continues of his local council's decision 16 years ago to put a property up for sale that was ultimately bought by his wife.

Niall Collins was a member of Limerick County Council when it agreed in January 2007 that the property should be sold.

He attended that meeting, according to reporting by The Ditch website, and the property was subsequently purchased by his wife in September 2008.

Mr Collins had left the council to become a TD (member of the Irish parliament) by then.

However, responding to the issue for the first time, Mr Collins said neither he or his wife "had any pecuniary or beneficial interest in that property" when he was a councillor.

'Transparent and open'

In a statement, Mr Collins, who is Minister of State for Skills and Further Education and has been a Fianna Fáil TD since 2007, confirmed it was agreed to put the property up for sale after a council meeting in January 2007.

He added that the property was sold to his wife, Eimear O'Connor, "following a transparent and open sales process which was open to all".

Mr Collins said this was after the property had been advertised in local media, 21 months after the council decision and 16 months after he had left council to become a TD.

'Set out the facts'

The Tánaiste (Irish deputy PM) and leader of Fianna Fáil, Micheál Martin said that Mr Collins had not broken any laws.

He said the council has the statutory legal power to dispose of property and not a local area committee.

Mr Martin added that Mr Collins is willing to go before the Dáil (Irish Parliament) to make a statement and arrangements are being made.

Asked if Mr Collins should have recused himself from the meeting, the tánaiste said that in hindsight it would have been better if he had, adding that the sale was open and transparent.

Taoiseach (Irish PM) Leo Varadkar also agreed that it would have been better practice for Mr Collins to recuse himself from the local area committee meeting.

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Mr Collins is likely to face further questions about the allegations at the Dáil this week.

In a message on Twitter, Rise-Solidarity-People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy wrote: "Finally he speaks. Let's see if he agrees to appear before the Dáil and answer questions about it this week."