Junior minister Niall Collins strongly denies claims he did not declare home ownership on planning application

Fianna Fáil TD Niall Collins. File picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Junior Minister Niall Collins has responded to claims that he did not declare ownership on his planning application.

A statement issued by Fianna Fáil on behalf of Mr Collins outlined his stance on the situation, saying: ‘In 2001 I applied to Limerick County Council for planning permission, in my own name, on lands owned by my father in Patrickswell Co. Limerick.

"At that time I met the requirements for planning permission in the area – known as the ‘pressure area’. Separately the property I owned on the Fr. Russell Road in Dooradoyle Limerick was not in the ‘pressure area’," the statement read.

Mr Collins outlined that the council had introduced a new planning policy following his election to the board in 2004.

"Tomorrow I will request a copy of my planning application of 2001 from the Council but I am satisfied that at all times I have acted correctly in my planning application and in my instruction to a planning agent in relation to the application on my behalf.

"The false statements made about me by The Ditch website are currently being examined by my legal advisors,” he added.

The Taoiseach has said he is not aware of allegations that the junior minister did not properly declare home ownership on a planning application.

Responding to an article posted on 'The Ditch' tonight, Monday, Leo Varadkar said he "was not across" the claims made in the piece. 

The article alleges that the Minister of State for Skills and Further Education claimed that he was living with his parents when he applied for planning permission to build a home in Patrickswell, County Limerick in 2001. The article alleges that Mr Collins was at this time living in a home in Dooradoyle with his wife.

According to the Limerick County Development Plan at the time, applicants to build homes were required to show the need for their dwelling. The article also says that Mr Collins used his wife's surname in a planning notice which was placed in the local newspaper.

A Fianna Fáil party source has confirmed that Mr Collins has been in contact with the party on the issue, but neither he, the party, nor the Tánaiste Micheál Martin had responded to queries. 

Mr Varadkar was asked if Mr Collins would face similar consequences to Fine Gael's Damien English, who resigned as junior enterprise minister last month when a similar discrepancy was found in the planning file for his home in Meath. 

However, at a press conference to mark the passing of a new Brexit deal, Mr Varadkar said that he had been focused on that issue all of Monday.

Mr Collins had previously denied a report which suggested he had an ownership stake in a site owned by his wife.

He has been a junior minister at the Department of Further and Higher Education since 2020, having first been elected a TD in 2007. 

He was demoted from the party's front bench in October 2019 over the VoteGate controversy. Mr Collins stepped down in October, when Dáil footage showed then Clare TD Timmy Dooley appearing to motion Mr Collins toward his vote button before he left the chamber.

The latest controversy comes after another junior minister, Fine Gael's Damien English resigned last month after it emerged he failed to properly declare his property interests when seeking planning permission for his family home.

According to land registry records, Mr English became the full owner of the Castlemartin bungalow in 2004.

In 2008, he and his wife Laura applied for planning permission to build a home in the rural Cookstown area outside Kells.

According to the 2007-2013 Meath County Development plan, those looking to build in such areas should be able to show a "local need" and this is limited to those “who do not possess a dwelling or who have not possessed a dwelling in the past, in which they have resided or who possess a dwelling in which they do not currently reside".