Junior minister Damien English resigns over issue with planning application
The Of His Decision At And Damien Department Informed Leo Resign Enterprise, Said Varadkar Trade Of English He Night Employment To Last As Taoiseach Minister State Of
Junior Fine Gael minister Damien English has resigned over a failure to properly declare a property interest.
In a statement issued this morning, he said he informed the Taoiseach last night of his decision to resign as Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
Referring to an article on the Ditch website, he said questions were raised about his planning application from 14 years ago.
“I reviewed this application, made in 2008, and it is clear to me that I failed to inform Meath County Council about ownership of my house in Castlemartin. This was wrong, not up to the standard required and I apologise for doing so,” he said.
“I would like to thank the people of Meath West for their ongoing support as their TD. I will continue to serve them and work hard on their behalf in the constituency,” he said in a statement.
He said he wanted to thank the Taoiseach and parliamentary colleagues for their support during my time as Minister of State.
“I will continue to support the Taoiseach and colleagues in Government as they continue to deliver on the programme for Government. I would like to recognise the support and sacrifice of Laura and my family at all times.”
and colleagues in Government as they continue to deliver on the programme for Government.
— Damien English TD (@Damien_English) January 12, 2023
I would like to recognise the support and sacrifice of Laura and my family at all times. pic.twitter.com/DpKVsP3w6L
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said Mr English offered him his resignation as Minister of State for Employment Affairs, Business and Retail last night.
“He informed me that 14 years ago, when applying for planning permission, he made a declaration to Meath County Council that was not correct,” he said.
"It was his view given the circumstances that his position was not tenable. I agreed and accepted his resignation,” the Taoiseach said.
Minister of State for Community Development, Integration and Charities Joe O'Brien said that he thinks the right decision was made.
Speaking on RTÉ's , Mr O'Brien said that while he did not have the full details, the omission of the ownership of a home was "serious".
"It is clear that his behaviour was not up to standard of what is expected, rightly expected of all of us. I think he has made the right decision today."
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald echoed that sentiment on the same programme but said "this is now the second Minister of State to resign and it seems the newly reshuffled Government is in some respects following the pattern of the last one at ministerial resignations".
Labour's Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said Mr English's had "done the right thing", but said that politicians should be "an awful lot more serious about their declarations, because what he did was wrong".
"I would hope that everybody involved in the Government side of things and across the House have all their affairs in order because we need to have trust in politics. We can't have assumptions within the public that those who are involved in public life just aren't honest."
Mr English is the second junior minister to resign from office over a failure to properly declare property interests.
Fianna Fail’s Robert Troy, who was also based at the Department of Enterprise, resigned last summer having been engulfed in controversy over his property interests.