Deputy O'Brien said that Fianna Fáil were wasting the time of the House by putting down this motion deploring the Government's inaction in relation to ground rents. I am quite prepared to leave it to the voters in Deputy O'Brien's constituency to say if there was any action by the Government on ground rents and to let the people decide if Fianna Fáil, in consultation with many people in Deputy O'Brien's area, were wasting the time of the House.
Ground rents are a problem, have been over the years and, in view of the Government's inaction, will be a problem for some considerable time. What are ground rents? The Oxford Dictionary describes them as the rent paid to the owner of land which is let for building upon. These words illustrate the root of the problem and the agitation for its removal. Most people in the country, especially young people, when buying a house, which is probably the largest single transaction in their lives, feel that in paying such a large sum for their houses, the least they are entitled to is the piece of land on which their houses stand. They save for years for a deposit on their houses. Those who are lucky enough to be at work in the present situation find this a very difficult thing to do. When they have secured their deposit and placed it on the house of their choice they commit themselves to the burden of a mortgage, which must be repaid, over 25 or 30 years. Even then those people still find they are paying a rent on the land on which the house is built for the rest of their days to somebody they never see. There is no greater classic example of barren taxation than the ground rent system. It involves paying for something for which there is no return.
It was something similar to this which caused the Boston tea party. I am not suggesting that we are in for a situation like that, but with the feeling of revulsion that is building up among the people against this system I do not know exactly what the future holds.
What is the solution? When discussing ground rents one discusses them under two headings, future and existing. Fianna Fáil have been pushing the Government for some action on this question but without result. It was after various unfulfilled promises, various motions and questions in the House, at local authority level and other levels and after the local elections of 1974, when Fianna Fáil came out with their Local Government policy statement, "A policy for adjustment, advancement and reform on all fronts in the local community"—in this document we quoted our proposal with regard to future and existing ground rents—we decided to put the motion which we are debating tonight, before the House. It reads:
That Dáil Éireann deplores the Government's inaction in relation to ground rents.
At this time every Tuesday when Fianna Fáil put down a Private Members' motion about some particular section of Government business the Government table a meaningless amendment. We had it a few weeks ago in relation to Verolme dockyard and they did the same last night. The Government's amendment reads:
To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and to substitute the following:
"approves the Government's decision to prevent the creation of further ground rents".
This is a meaningless amendment. The Government are asking us to approve their own inaction.
Let us examine the record of the Government on their decision. As I understand the parliamentary system in the country a Government decision is in black and white when legislation is produced on a particular subject. We have seen no Bill on ground rents. We have had many headlines and many statements but we have seen no proposals to take firm action. As is typical of all Departments in this regime there are many press conferences announcing proposals but we very rarely see them in black and white except the type of legislation which was being discussed prior to this motion.
During the Minister's contribution last night he informed us that it would be relatively easy to draft a Bill banning future ground rents but the delay is because he wants to include in it extensive landlord and tenant legislation amendments to it. I ask for a simple Bill to ban future ground rents. I do not want the Minister to get involved in the detailed sphere of landlord and tenant legislation at the moment. Let us consider the specifics of future ground rents. The Government promised over 12 months ago that they would bring in this legislation on future ground rents. The Minister for Local Government has told us that approximately 25,000 houses were built in the country but I am not convinced of these 25,000 houses. It would be a rash man who would admit such a number of houses were built when one sees the unemployment figures in the building trade, the decrease in the hardware and the builders' providers employment. Even allowing for all those things and going on the Government's figure of 25,000 houses built over the last 12 months and assuming that about 8,000 of these were local authority houses, we are left with 17,000. Assuming that 25 per cent—and that is a large percentage—of those were not subject to ground rent it means that while the Government delay over the introduction of this simple Bill banning the creation of future ground rents, in the past 12-month period, using Government figures, over 12,750 new ground rents were created, an appalling figure. I heard the previous speaker lauding the Minister for Justice on his efforts in regard to legislation and his promise regarding future ground rents, but while the Government wait and promise what happens the unfortunate young couples buying homes? The Government are nearly three years in office and in the last 12 months alone nearly 13,000 new ground rents were created. How can the Government, without blushing, table the amendment before us, never mind vote for it as they probably will later on?
Speaking yesterday the Minister gave no date for the introduction of the proposed legislation, which means that the figure of nearly 13,000 that I have given is increasing every day. At the same time Government backbenchers compliment the Minister on his action. What action? An empty promise on which we have seen no performance. Meanwhile, anybody buying a house in a housing scheme—and most of them are subject to ground rents—is being committed to £20, £25, £30 or more annual ground rent for the rest of his days.
Delay in introduction of this legislation has had a secondary and equally unsatisfactory effect in that many decent people in expectation that the legislation would include relief of existing ground rent payers have been withholding payment of ground rent and have been brought before the courts. I am talking of people who in normal circumstances would never come in contact with the procedures of law other than as, perhaps, jurors or as witnesses on behalf of the State. It is appalling that because of Government inaction and a feeling of uncertainty due to being left in mid-air by the Government they should find themselves in this situation.
I do not agree with the Minister's statement yesterday that as a matter of policy he was not in favour of the abolition of existing ground rents, but at least it has clarified for many people their position in regard to existing ground rents which they have been withholding and thereby coming into confrontation with the law. Final clarification of the question of the Government's intentions regarding existing ground rents can only come when this long-promised legislation is introduced. The Minister emphasised yesterday that he could not give a date for the introduction of the new legislation, but I appeal to him and to the Government for the sake of the people to introduce the legislation, let us see what is in it and let the people know where they will stand for the future.
In 1967 Fianna Fáil in Government introduced legislation which was intended to allow ground rents to be easily purchased. In practice, as is often the case with legislation, it was found to have certain defects in regard to the legal costs involved in the purchase of ground rents. I hope the new legislation will include a section which will drastically reduce this problem. We found that the legal costs have been greater in many cases than the accumulated value of the ground rent no matter what the number of years was and whether it was an individual or a group scheme promoted by a residents' association. It was never intended in the original legislation that legal costs should be so disastrously high but it turned out this way, and I hope the new legislation, whenever introduced, will include a section to reduce drastically the legal fees involved. It seems ridiculous to have to suffer perhaps £150 in legal fees to buy out a £20 ground rent. That is not unusual, but rather a regular occurrence.
The legal profession tell us that buying out a ground rent involves nearly as much work as buying out a house. I cannot understand that but, being a layman, I am not party to the work of the legal profession. I appeal to the Government to ensure that something will be included in the new legislation to reduce drastically the legal fees involved in the purchase of ground rents. Even if that were done you still do not grasp the nettle, the abolition of existing ground rents. That will remain until some Government decide to abolish them by some method and until then you will have legitimate agitation and bad feeling about the payment of this barren tax.
I am aware of the constitutional difficulties involved; they have been argued on both sides of the House. I am prepared to take the legal advice we get that to remove them at the stroke of a pen would go against the property rights written into the Constitution. Our great safeguard is our written Constitution. Unlike the British with their unwritten Constitution we have a document which guarantees and protects the rights of all citizens. You may not like ground rents but they are a property and the Constitution says that we cannot deprive an individual of property. Consequently, we must protect that right within the Constitution. But some Government must produce a solution to the constitutional difficulty. This Government have a responsibility to use all the legal expertise available to them in the civil service and courts to devise a scheme that will get around this constitutional difficulty. With the combined brainpower of the civil servants in the Department of Justice and in the Attorney General's Office and other legal minds I have no doubt that such a scheme could be devised. It could be done in many ways, and one way we have suggested is by the setting up of a board similar to the Land Commission. I would ask the Minister to consider this suggestion because such a board could resell the ground rents over a three or four year period with minimal legal costs to the tenant.
Fianna Fáil have not held up any legislation relating to the reform of the ground rents system although such an accusation was levelled at us earlier by Deputy O'Brien. On the contrary, we urge the Government to bring in the legislation necessary without further delay. All that is required is a simple Bill to prevent the creation of future ground rents. The Minister has admitted that there would be no drafting difficulties involved in such a Bill. It would prevent the present position of ground rents being created every day. This would be a first step, and if it is introduced together with the amendments to the 1967 Act that we have been promised, we shall give them careful consideration and a speedy passage through the House because we are very conscious of the burden that is being placed on property owners by the present system. Together with the savage rates the ground rents are imposing a big burden on people.
Prior to the last general election one of the promises of the Coalition parties was the abolition of ground rents and they told us, too, that rates would be reduced dramatically by reason of the transfer of health and housing subsidies to central funds. These promises, like the others, have been unfulfilled. In my country at the time of the general election the rate was about £5 but in the three years since then it has increased to almost £10.
Despite what Deputy O'Brien says Fianna Fáil were not wasting the time of the House in putting down this motion. If our action in this regard results in the speedy introduction of the necessary legislation by even one day, the exercise will have been worthwhile. Is it not hollow, to say the least, for a Government Deputy to compliment the Minister on his inactivity in this sphere and then to accuse Fianna Fáil of wasting the time of the House? Is it not hollow, too, for the Government to table an amendment to the Fianna Fáil motion to the effect that they approve the Government's decision to prevent the creation of further ground rents while having allowed the creation of at least an extra 13,000 ground rents during the past twelve months? I call on the Government to withdraw their amendment, to allow the Fianna Fáil motion to stand and to let us have the promised legislation before any more damage is done.
