Accumulated profits at Danny Healy-Rae's plant hire company rose to €4,783,788 last year, new accounts show, writes Sarah McGuinness.
New filings with the Companies Registration Office recorded the rise, even after the operating profits at Healy-Rae Plant Hire Ltd decreased from €1.12m in 2022 to just €5,160 last year.
The Independent Kerry TD stood down from the helm of the board this year, with his son Johnny Healy-Rae now the 'ultimate controlling party' of the firm, which is based in Kilgarvan, Co. Kerry.
The accumulated profits are up from €4,778,501 in 2022, and from €3,657,213 in 2021.
Healy-Rae Plant Hire specialises in civil engineering and haulage, and is involved in site clearing and road making.
The firm experienced a sharp depletion in cash reserves and the value of its asset portfolio last year.
Healy-Rae Plant Hire is a third-generation family business established by the late former TD Jackie Healy-Rae and his brother Dan in 1956. It currently employs roughly 70 staff.
Danny Healy-Rae and his wife Eileen have been listed as directors of the firm since 1999.
However, the pair stood down from the board of the company in March of this year - just one week after the 2023 financial accounts were signed off on.
Johnny Healy-Rae, also a Kerry County councillor, remains a director on the company's board, on which he has served since 2014.
His wife Caroline was appointed secretary of Healy-Rae Plant Hire in March 2024, following Danny Healy-Rae's departure from the board.
"The company is controlled by Johnny Healy-Rae. He is also the ultimate controlling party," the accounts note.
Johnny Healy-Rae said that the fall in operating profits last year is "not unusual in the line of work we do".
"I'm not alarmed," he said. Johnny Healy-Rae would not comment on his father's departure from the board of the firm, while Danny Healy-Rae did not respond to requests for comment.
One local source said: "Johnny has been manning the day-to-day running of the firm for a long while here."
Directors were paid a total of €40,000 last year, up from €38,000 in 2022.
Services of €820,000 were provided by Healy-Rae Construction & Building Services Ltd to Healy-Rae Plant Hire in the 2023 financial year, the accounts note.
Healy-Rae Plant Hire Ltd is just one of many businesses in the Healy-Rae family empire.
