asked the Minister for Justice the fees payable to the Land Registry in respect of each item separately chargeable on 1st January, 1965, and at the present time; the amount of the increase in each case and the percentage of such increase; and the percentage average increase in Land Registry fees.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Land Registry Fees.
58.
The fees payable in the Land Registry on 1st January, 1965 and at the present time are set out, respectively, in the Land Registration Fees Order, 1959 (S.I. No. 157 of 1959) and the Land Registration Fees Order, 1966 (S.I. No. 57 of 1966), to which I would refer the Deputy.
The average increase in fees effected under the provisions of the 1966 Order is of the order of 75 per cent.
Can the Minister say how he can reconcile an increase of 75 per cent with a declared policy of making for cheaper law?
It is also declared policy, and a statutory obligation, to make the Land Registry pay, so that expenditure balances revenue. This is precisely what we have in mind and it was also the policy of every Government since the State was formed. Furthermore, in 1956, Deputy Sweetman decided to raise the court fees by 300 per cent, under certain pressure.
(Interruptions.)
Seventy-five per cent on top of that. At that time they were reasonable. They are far and away above what they were then and the Minister knows it.