Another attorney general, another landlord

Attorney general Rossa Fanning owns a rental property portfolio worth around €1.5 million.

Government yesterday announced it would end the winter eviction ban following advice from Fanning. The Department of the Taoiseach wouldn’t tell The Ditch if it was aware Fanning is a landlord before he advised them that an extension to the ban would come with a “significant risk” of a legal challenge.

Green Party TD Patrick Costello, himself a member of a government party, yesterday called for the publication of Fanning’s advice and said that many lawyers considered the ban’s continuation "perfectly constitutional".

Fanning’s rental portfolio includes a three-bedroom house in Ranelagh, Dublin 6 worth around €1 million that he has owned since 2005.

He also rents out a two-bedroom apartment in Rathmines valued at around €500,000.

Meanwhile it can also be revealed that former attorney Judge Seamus Woulfe is also a landlord.

Woulfe has received rental income since at least 2011 from a two-bedroom apartment in Clontarf that he has owned since the early 1990s.

In 2021 The Ditch reported that Fanning’s predecessor Paul Gallagher owns five rental properties, which bring in a minimum yearly rent of €116,000. All three attorneys general who have advised the government on eviction bans since 2020 are landlords.

Yesterday housing minister Darragh O’Brien confirmed the eviction ban would not be extended beyond the end of this month. He said the decision was based on several factors including the attorney general’s advice.

The Department of the Taoiseach and Fanning declined to comment.