Vol. 530 No. 1
29 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the position regarding the draft legislation for the transfer of the Land Registry to a semi-State body; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1175/01]
The drafting of a Bill to give effect to the conversion of the Land Registry and the Registry of Deeds to a semi-State body was approved by the Government last year. The Bill is now with the Attorney General's office for detailed drafting. I intend to publish the Bill later this year.
Has the decision to locate the headquarters of the property registration authority of Ireland on the 1.2 acre site at Smithfield, Dublin 7, been rescinded?
I am not aware of the future location of the Land Registry. There has been decentralisation to Waterford and the Deputy will be aware that the Government is committed to decentralisation. In those circumstances, while there has not been a definitive decision on the remainder of the Land Registry moving to Waterford, it is something which is quite possible.
Can I take it then that the decision to locate at the Smithfield site still stands, and that there has not been a change in that decision?
The situation is that the Government—
It is a simple question.
It is a very simple question with a relatively complex answer and I will tell the Deputies why.
A factual answer will do.
All simple questions draw the most complex answers.
It depends who is answering the question.
The Government has a policy on decentralisation. So far, decentralisation to Waterford has taken place very successfully. It is possible, even probable, that the remainder of the Land Registry would be transferred to Waterford. Such a decision has not yet been taken. In those circumstances no decisions have been reversed.
Does the Minister agree that the on-going delays experienced with the Land Registry, the huge and ever-escalating backlog requires that steps be taken to implement the Government decision made some time ago to transfer the Land Registry to a semi-State body or that the Government make other decisions to improve the efficiency of the Land Registry?
What consideration has the Minister given to proposals received by him from the Law Society in this regard? By what date will the legislation he promises be published, as it was originally promised to be published during the course of 2000? As the Land Registry remains, for the time being, a State body, what action is he taking to ensure it provides a more efficient service than the service currently available?
I agree that the service should be more efficient. I have obtained permission from the Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy, to increase the number of staff in the Land Registry. The recruitment process is under way.
The number of transactions in the Land Registry has increased dramatically in recent years because of the improved economy and consultations are taking place with the Law Society on the formation of the Land Registry as a semi-State commercial body. These negotiations are on-going and the Law Society is apprised of precisely what is going on. I expect to publish the legislation later this year.
Like many other Bills I introduced since becoming Minister this legislation was promised by many administrations over many years. It will be published this year.
Is it not logical that this organisation should be broken up and located in regions where people and personnel would have much easier access to it? Let an office in Waterford cover that area, but let us have an office in an area such as Monaghan to cover the north east and the northern area.
This issue is causing severe problems and headaches for people in all sorts of property options, particularly those applying for EU pensions and things like that, where a great deal of documentation must be trawled and the trauma those families suffer is unacceptable. Can the Minister consider breaking the country into areas and servicing it from regional offices rather than from centralised offices?
The main or, at least, most immediate problem with delays in the Land Registry relates to what Deputy Crawford has mentioned, that is to say, people seeking certified copies of folios and Land Registry maps. For that reason the issue of those documents has been prioritised within the Land Registry so that we can try to deal with these matters expeditiously.
As far as I am aware, and I will check the position in Monaghan for the Deputy and communicate with him, the copy folios would be available in the office of the County Registrar. I fully accept that the maps would have to be obtained at central level.
With the increased computerisation of the Land Registry, which is on-going, the stage will soon be reached whereby solicitors in their offices will be able to conduct Land Registry searches of folios and look at maps on screens. That should resolve Deputy Crawford's problem.
I have always argued that if modern technology was not to conquer the curse of what I will describe as "peripherality" then it had little use.
Questions Nos. 30, 32, 39, 64, 92, 138, 139, 140 and 141. As more than three of these questions are Oral Questions the time allowed is not more than 18 minutes.
