Vol. 520 No. 3
64 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the most recent figure for arrears in the Land Registry; the amount of surplus funds arising from operations in the Land Registry in 1999; and the proposals, if any, he has other than increasing fees, to ensure that house purchasers and others can have registration of their title completed within a reasonable time span. [15072/00]
I am informed by the Registrar of Titles that the most recent figure for arrears in the Land Registry is 122,437 at 30 April 2000. As the Deputy will be aware, due to the current buoyancy in the economy, the intake of applications continues to grow at an unprecedented level with each successive year setting new record levels.
The Deputy will also be aware that, in order to address this problem, I have received sanction recently from my colleague, the Minister for Finance, to increase the staffing compliment of the Land Registry by 77 and the resultant appointments are currently being made.
I can assure the Deputy that every effort is being made by me and by the staff in the Land Registry and Registry of Deeds to address the problems which have developed over a period of time, mainly due to the unprecedented increase in the levels of business. The Land Registry management are also implementing some proactive measures to help deal with the situation. These include improvements to workflow, the training and development of staff, the use of new technology, the launch of an E-commerce service and the computerised data capture of folios and maps.
I am confident that, with the appointment of additional staff and the programme of measures being taken, the situation will improve over a period of time. I can also inform the Deputy that the amount of surplus funds arising from operations in the Land Registry in 1999, in cash accounting terms under Government accounting rules, was £3.9 million. I should point out however, that this figure would not be a true reflection of the position in that charges borne by other Departments for the Land Registry for matters such as rent, pensions etc. are not reflected in that figure.
