More information comes to light regarding the matter of holiday homes and why they are not declared in members interests. Ken Foxe in an article last month in the Sunday Tribune wrote about a loophole in members interests rules which mean that TD’s and Senators do not have to list their official residence or holiday home in their declarations

This clarifies why Senator Ivor Callely owns a house in Dublin and the house in West Cork and does not have to declare them. All other properties are in his wife’s name so do not have to be declared either.

And this loophole is one exploited by other members of the Oireachtas. The reason we have declarations of members interests is supposed to be about openness and transparency and highlighting of conflicts of interests. A TD could own two houses, their spouse and children could own ten and still register that they had no property interests and people reading the register could think that the TD and their family don’t own a roof tile. The situation is as clear as mud so.