Kehoe must explain failure to declare rental interest from D4 property

A Wexford Sinn Féin Councillor has called on Deputy Paul Kehoe to explain the allegations that he did not declare rent income from a property he owns in Dublin when disclosing his interests to the Dail last January. Cllr Anthony Kelly has said that it is morally ambiguous of Deputy Kehoe to condemn people who cannot afford to pay their household charge while it has been alleged that all the time he has deliberately hidden rental property earnings from the Irish taxpayer.


“It seems that Deputy Paul Kehoe mislead the Dail by not declaring his interests on a property which he had purchased from Minister Phil Hogan in 2010 and had then rented out,” Cllr Kelly said. “Deputy Kehoe did not declare this property in his 2011 interests as he was legally obliged to do. Each January all TDs must disclose their interests under Dáil rules for all or part of the previous year. Failure to disclose an interest is an offence that can attract a maximum penalty of three years in jail or a €25,000 fine.”

“Had Deputy Kehoe been using the property as a residence as he claimed at the time, then he would not have been required to register it. However as he was renting the property and earning income from it, it now appears that he has broken the strict rules set in place for registering interests.”

“In recent months Deputy Kehoe has been the government’s terrier in County Wexford, nipping at the ankles of those unfortunates who cannot afford to pay the household tax. He has gone on record as saying those who do not register to pay the controversial charge are breaking the law. How ironic that the same deputy may have been breaking the law himself while he was delivering this sermon.”

“I am calling on Deputy Paul Kehoe to clarify these allegations to the people of County Wexford. It’s clear that he must explain these serious accusations promptly but I feel he also now owes the sixty percent of Wexford homeowners who have not registered to pay the household charge, and who the Fine Gael deputy labelled criminals, an unreserved apology.”