Paul Hosford: Foresight would have prevented Niall Collins' planning controversy - in hindsight

With a bit of foresight, the controversy over the sale of a site to Mr Collins' wife' in 2007 could have been avoided, writes Political Correspondent Paul Hosford

It is the second time in two months that Niall Collins has been called on to address the Dáil on his property dealings, having last month had to address the particulars of a planning application for his home. Picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

"In hindsight", it would have been better for Niall Collins to recuse himself from a local area committee vote to dispose of land which his wife had seemingly expressed interest in purchasing.

That was the opinion of Tánaiste Micheál Martin when asked about the latest controversy surrounding Junior Higher Education Minister Niall Collins. 

It is the second time in two months that Mr Collins has been called on to address the Dáil on his property dealings, having last month had to address the particulars of a planning application for his home.

At the time, Mr Collins faced repeated calls to address the issue before a hastily-arranged Dáil statement on a Thursday evening where he said:

“I am entirely satisfied that my planning application 23 years ago for my family home, met the correct planning criteria, and was correctly adjudicated upon."

Mr Collins argued then he was entitled to build his home in Patrickswell and, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tánaiste satisfied, the Limerick TD's position was safe.

But a second controversy arrived last week as The Ditch news website revealed the sale of the site to Mr Collins' wife, Eimear O'Connor. The minutes show Mr Collins did not recuse himself from the motion, though they also show he did not propose or second it. The minutes also do not say a vote took place, nor do they point to any dissent from the councillors present.

As a journalist who started in a local newspaper, the local area committees of Lucan and Clondalkin were regular haunts and anyone who has attended these committees can tell you that motions can often be done within a matter of a few minutes as the busy agendas are got through.

But Mr Martin's use of "in hindsight" is a touch generous in a case where an elected official, who at the time would have been preparing for a Dáil election, did not recuse himself from the disposal of a site which his wife had seemingly asked the council if it would sell to her. 

Mr Collins should have recused himself, full stop. Hindsight is not needed to know that where even the mere suggestion of a conflict of interest could be made, public representatives should step back from the issue or fully declare their conflict. 

This level of transparency should form the foresight of public representatives, not just their hindsight.

Mr Martin was joined by Mr Varadkar and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan in their conviction that while Mr Collins should have recused himself, he had broken no law. 

That is where the argument now lies, in a debate about whether the area committee proposal to put the land on the market constitutes a vote to sell the land. 

According to the minutes of the area committee, councillors were told a number of expressions of interest had been received, but the documents made available by Limerick City and County Council contain just one — Ms O'Connor's.

The Local Government Act 2001 says that at any meeting of a council or a committee "a member of the authority, committee, joint committee or joint body present at such meeting shall, where he or she has actual knowledge that he or she or a connected person has a pecuniary or other beneficial interest in, or which is material to the matter" should declare their interest and withdraw from the meeting. 

For his part, Mr Collins said in a statement on Monday that “in January 2007, neither I nor my wife had any pecuniary or beneficial interest in that property".

It is possible Mr Collins did not know his wife had expressed interest in the site on Main Street, Patrickswell, at the January 2007 meeting, but with a bit of foresight this controversy could have been avoided. Rather than relying on hindsight.