LAST UPDATE | 28 Feb 2023
MINISTER OF STATE Niall Collins is expected to make a statement in the Dáil this week regarding controversy surrounding his 2001 planning application.
Spokespeople for the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Tánaiste Micheál Martin and Transport Minister Eamon Ryan stated this evening that the three party leaders have confidence in the junior minister.
The controversy comes after news website The Ditch made a number of claims about a planning application submitted by the junior minister at the Department of Higher Education.
In May 2001, Collins applied to Limerick County Council for planning permission for a two-storey house in Patrickswell, County Limerick on a site owned by his father.
In the application documents, which have been seen by The Journal, Collins lists Red House Hill, Patrickswell as the address.
Collins had been living with his wife in a property on Father Russell Road, Dooradoyle.
In the application, Collins states he had lived at his father’s Red House Hill address for 30 years (1971-2001).
On the form, when asked to state the need for housing the answer is: “Applicant proposes to build his own family home and move out of his parents house.”
The answer to the question ‘Do you or your family own any other dwelling land in the area?’ the answer is: “Yes, the applicant’s father owns entire field from which site is taken.”
Collins’ signature appears on various letters attached to the file on paper showing his address as Red House Hill, Patrickswell.
In a statement yesterday evening, the Limerick TD said he applied to Limerick County Council for planning permission in 2001 in his own name, on lands owned by his 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’,” he said.
Collins said he was elected as a councillor to Limerick County Council in 2004 “and thereafter the Council introduced a new planning policy in relation to housing need”.
“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,” he said in the statement.
Collins said he “acted correctly” in a planning application he made in Limerick in 2001.
It is understood that the Fianna Fáil leader spoke to Collins last night about the revelations whereby Collins told Martin he intended to go before the Dáil to address matters.
Speaking in the Dail this afternoon, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar confirmed that Collins has sought Dáil time to make a statement, which is expected to take place this week.
When asked if the three party leaders had confidence in the junior minister, a spokesperson for the Green Party leader said Ryan did have confidence but was “interested in hearing what he says” in his Dáil statement.
A spokesperson for the Tánaiste said Martin believes Collins has done a “fine job” as minister of state.
The Dáil is due to meet today and it is anticipated opposition members will seek answers from the minister.
Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon told reporters today at Leinster House that he is making “no assumptions” regarding the allegations made against Collins, but added that he believes a Dáil statement from the junior minister on the matter would be beneficial.
Labour’s Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said the allegations are “serious” stating that Collins needs to make a statement in the Dáíl “fast”.
He said a Q&A session, where opposition could pose questions, would be appropriate.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Minister for Enterprise Simon Coveney said that Collins’s statement was “very clear” in stating that he “acted appropriately at all times in the context of that planning application”.
He said that unless something else comes up, he is satisfied with what Collins said.
“I think Niall Collins has been adamant that he’s done nothing wrong here and I believe him in that,” Coveney added.
Speaking on RTÉ’s News At One, Education Minister Norma Foley said:
“I think in in fairness to the minister, he has already outlined a very significant statement where he has answered many of the queries that have been put to him and I welcome that.
“I know him to be a very hardworking and proactive Minister of State and he has at the first opportunity made available all of the information by his statement and I’m sure he will have no difficulty whatsoever in answering any further questions that are put to him,” she said.
Fine Gael TD Damien English resigned his position as Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in January following revelations on The Ditch about a planning application made by English in 2008.
English had not declared his ownership of a residential property when seeking planning permission for a house in Co Meath 14 years ago.
Additional reporting from Christina Finn and David Raleigh
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