asked the Minister for Justice the number of ground rents purchased from the estimated total of 350,000 since the introduction of the present ground rents legislation.
Written Answers. - Ground Rents Purchase.
369.
The special purchase scheme provided by Part III of the Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) (No. 2) Act, 1978, came into operation on 1 August, 1978. From that date to 29 February 1980, inclusive, a total of 4,041 vesting certificates has been issued on foot of ground rents bought out under that scheme. It is not possible to say how many additional ground rents may have been bought out under the purchase procedure provided by the Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) Act, 1967, since that procedure involves the intervention of the county registrar as arbitrator only in disputed cases.
The figure of 350,000 ground rents mentioned in the Question is presumably the Deputy's own estimate. During the proceedings in this House on the 1978 No. 2 Act, the figure I used—very tentatively—with reference to the number of ground rents on ordinary dwelling houses was 250,000.