asked the Minister for Justice how soon effective steps will be taken to expedite the furnishing of negative searches in the Registry of Deeds, as present delays of two months entail additional expense on persons in obtaining hand searches.
Ceisteanna—Questions (Resumed). - Delays in Registry of Deeds.
87.
A substantial increase in recent months in requests for negative searches, combined with an exceptionally heavy incidence of illness among key personnel, resulted in arrears in the completion of Searches.
To meet the situation, extensive overtime was worked since mid-September and is continuing. As a result, the time-lag has now been reduced to five weeks and I expect that the situation will be restored shortly to a period of less than four weeks which is generally acceptable to the solicitors concerned. Any particular search is expedited if so requested.