Thread by @TodaywithClaire

How many TDs are landlords, and how much do they earn?

Our producer @ali_mcconnell crunched the numbers, and we debated whether this was a conflict of interest for the TDs, with @bridsmithTD, @Damien_English and @lorcansirr

Here's what we found:

According to the latest available Register of Members' Interests for Dáil Eireann (for the year 2018):

🔴 35 TDs in the current Dáil are landlords

🔴 That's 22% of the 158 sitting TDs

🔴 Fianna Fáil has the most Landlord TDs in the 2019 Register, with 17, which is 38% of their TDs

🔴 Fine Gael has the second-most, with 10 landlords, or 20% of their TDs

🔴 There are 7 Independent TD landlords, and 1 Labour

(Data according to latest Register of Interests)

3 Senior Ministers are listed as landlords in latest the Register of Interests for 2018:
🔴 Tánaiste, Simon Coveney
🔴 Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed
🔴 Minister for Social Protection, Regina Doherty (a spokesperson said she has since "disposed" of the rental property)

We have combined the property details of these TDs with the latest @RTBinfo Rental Index (Q1 2019), which gives average rents for Local Electoral Areas, and referenced previous rental listings in the same block/street/area, to produce an estimate of how much each earns in rent.

This calculation suggests:

🔴 35 Landlord TDs, owning 70 rental properties between them, would earn more than €900,000 in private rental income per year
🔴 (€902,976 or €75,248 per month)
🔴 Or equivalent to €26,000 per year, per landlord (but there's a lot of variation)

As explained on @TodaySOR this morning, there's a wide variation in the number of rental properties that landlord TDs own. Independent TD for Kerry, Michael Healy-Rae, owns the most, at 13, according to the latest Register of Member's Interests.

.@MHealyRae confirmed that whatever the Register says is correct (i.e. he rents 13 properties), but said every TD has a conflict of interest, whether it's a farmer voting on agriculture matters, or a shop-owner on retail, or anything, because 'life is a conflict of interest'.

@MHealyRae 'Those 35 landlord TDs should absent themselves from votes on rental legislation' - Deputy @bridsmithTD joined us in studio to debate this issue, and discuss the wider rental market. #TodaySOR

@MHealyRae @bridsmithTD Minister of State with Responsibility for Housing, @Damien_English, says TDs 'are judged on separating public interest and private interest, and putting public first', and asks 'Where do you stop?' if landlord TDs can't vote on housing legislation. #TodaySOR

@MHealyRae @bridsmithTD @Damien_English 35 Landlord TDs, 70 properties, and more than €900,000

Listen back to the full discussion here:

rte.ie/radio1/today-w…

#TodaySOR