Robert Troy | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Troy in 2024 | |
| Minister of State | |
| 2025– | Finance |
| 2020–2022 | Enterprise, Trade and Employment |
| Teachta Dála | |
| Assumed office February 2011 | |
| Constituency | Longford–Westmeath |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1982-01-24)24 January 1982 (age 44) Mullingar,County Westmeath, Ireland |
| Party | Fianna Fáil |
| Alma mater | Dublin Business School |
| Website | roberttroy |
Robert Troy (born 24 January 1982) is an IrishFianna Fáil politician who has been aTeachta Dála (TD) for theLongford–Westmeath constituency since2011.[1] He has been aminister of state since January 2025. He served as minister of state from 2020 to 2022, resigning after failing to declare property interests.
Troy was born inMullingar in 1982, but is a native ofBallynacargy,County Westmeath.[2] He attended Emper National School and boarded atSt Finian's College, Mullingar, and was on the committee ofNational Youth Council of Ireland. He subsequently completed a certificate in marketing at theDublin Business School.
Troy was elected toWestmeath County Council in2004,[3] and re-elected in2009.[4] He was elected as aTD for theLongford–Westmeath constituency at the2011 general election, beating the two sitting Fianna Fáil TDs,Peter Kelly and former cabinet Minister andLeader of the SeanadMary O'Rourke.[5]
Troy was the Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Arts and Heritage from April 2011 to July 2012, when he was appointed as Spokesperson on Children. Following the 2016 general election he was appointed Fianna Fáil Spokesperson onTransport, Tourism and Sport.
From July 2020 to August 2022 he served asMinister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment with special responsibility for trade promotion. He resigned following revelations about his failure to declare property interests.[6]
In August 2022, online news platformThe Ditch reported that Troy had failed to declare his full business interests in the Register of Members Interests in line with the standard obligations of a TD. It was discovered that he had sold a property toWestmeath County Council, of which he was previously a member, in 2018. Troy claimed that this failure was an error on his part.[7][8]
It was later discovered that Troy had failed to register the sale of a second property toLongford County Council in 2019, and failed to declare an interest in a third house inMullingar in 2020.[9] It subsequently emerged in anRTÉ interview on 23 August 2022 that in all, he had 11 properties, nine of which he was renting out; he admitted he had failed to properly declare a property business he was involved in; and he was in receipt of income under the state-funded Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) for two properties. Around this time Troy had also spoken about increasing funding for that scheme.[10]
On 24 August, it was revealed that one of Troy's rental properties had no fire certificate.[11] Later on 24 August, Troy resigned as a minister of state, insisting he had made genuine errors with his statutory declaration while saying he would not apologise for being a landlord. In a lengthy statement, he accepted the issue had now become a distraction for the coalition and the work his party was doing in the housing portfolio. He also criticised media coverage of the controversy. He said "I personally will not apologise for being a landlord. I bought my first house at the age of 20 as I went straight into a job after school, so I was in a position to purchase my first property then. I am not a person of privilege and I have not been brought up with a silver spoon in my mouth, I have worked for all I have."[12][13][14]
An investigation byStandards in Public Office Commission found that the failure to declare some of Troy's interests was accidental, however his obligation to make these declarations were inadvertently but negligently breached.[15][16]
In January 2025, he was appointed asMinister of State at the Department of Finance with responsibility for financial services, credit unions and insurance.[17] In March 2025 in theDáil Éireann Register of Interests, he declared income as a landlord from eight properties inPhibsborough in Dublin, andMullingar andBallynacargy in Westmeath.[18]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byas Ministers of State at the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation | Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment 2020–2022 With:Damien English | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of State at the Department of Finance 2025– | Incumbent |