Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 23 Oct 2001

Vol. 542 No. 5

Written Answers. - Land Registry Office.

Michael Ring

Question:

421 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if, further to Parliamentary Question No. 454 of 16 October 2001, his attention has been drawn to the fact that the certified file plan was not received by the persons' lodging solicitors; and if he will instruct the Land Registry Office to issue the file plan. [25273/01]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue)

I am informed by the Registrar of Titles that the certified copy file plan was re-issued to the lodging solicitors on 19 October 2001.

Denis Naughten

Question:

422 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he intends to roll out the ITRIS system to cover counties in the Land Registry Office; the reason for the delay in extending this to all counties; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25330/01]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue)

As the Deputy will be aware, the introduction of the "Integrated Title Registration Information System" (ITRIS) in July 1999 was a major step forward for the Land Registry and its customers. This system, which is designed to electronically store and manage Land Registry information, is being rolled out on a gradual basis across the organisation. ITRIS is currently available in nine counties – Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow, Cork, Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Clare and Roscommon – serving over 60% of the applications lodged in the Land Registry. It will be extended to County Waterford in the next few weeks, to counties Kerry and Limerick during January 2002 and it is planned to have it operational in all counties by the end of 2002.

I can inform the Deputy that there has been no delay in extending the ITRIS system. The Land Registry's stated policy has, at all times, been to introduce the system strategically and on a gradual basis. The introduction of the ITRIS system has also been communicated to the registry's customers via its customer group. As the Deputy will appreciate, there are a number of reasons for this introduction strategy, including the essential training of staff who operate the new system; the provision of information to, and having ongoing liaison and discussions with, solicitors and other customers prior to its roll out in each county and the making of the necessary infrastructural and technical changes and alterations to allow the system to function. These have been accomplished, to date, and have been managed effectively and successfully in challenging circumstances whilst dealing with record levels of intake.

The Deputy may be interested to know that a key element of this new system is its "electronic access service" (EAS). This enables customers of the Land Registry, who subscribe to the service, to conduct on line searches of folios and names index records through the Internet, where the folios are held in electronic format and to order copies of certain documents electronically. The EAS is one of the flagship initiatives undertaken under the information society action plan and electronic Government programme. The Deputy may wish to note that the Land Registry was the first Government Department or office to go live with such a system. The EAS is already operating very successfully and over 2,500 customer accounts are currently in operation. A measure of its success is that almost 1,000 business trans actions are being electronically undertaken by customers of the service each day.

The Deputy may wish to note that there is also a need to convert all existing ownership records into electronic format and the Land Registry is currently implementing a strategy to systematically capture all paper folios and their associated maps. This project is being undertaken on a county by county basis, over a three year period, and when complete, all folios and filed plans held by the Land Registry, estimated at over 6.4 million images, will be available to customers in electronic format, both directly from the Land Registry offices and over the Internet.

Denis Naughten

Question:

423 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the reason for the delay on land registry queries on a county basis; his plans to address these delays; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25331/01]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue)

I am informed by the Registrar of Titles that the situation in relation to the processing of Land Registry dealings is as set out in the following tabular statement. As the Deputy will appreciate, the length of time taken to complete cases varies, depending on a number of factors including the complexity of the case, the completeness of the documentation forwarded by the solicitors, the need for further documentation, etc. The volume of business being transacted at any stage would also have a bearing on matters. The Deputy may also wish to note that any cases involving urgency are, in accordance with the customer service policy of the Land Registry, dealt with expeditiously.

I should also point out to the Deputy that the statistics provided in the first column of the tabular statement, not requiring subdivision/creation of a new title, represent almost 70% of the total intake of cases by the Land Registry.

Waiting time (in weeks) for processing a

Land Registry Dealing

County	Waiting time in weeks for Dealings not requiring subdivision/ creation of a new title	Waiting time in weeks for Dealings requiring subdivision/ creation of a new title
Carlow	14	160
Cavan	10	87
Clare	6	150
Cork	3	6*
Donegal	12	128
Dublin	2	75
Galway	10	190
Kerry	5	104
Kildare	4	14*
Kilkenny	14	160
Laois	16	156
Leitrim	12	128
Limerick	8	104
Longford	12	128
Louth	10	87
Mayo	7	194
Meath	20	130
Monaghan	10	87
Offaly	16	156
Roscommon	6	150
Sligo	7	194
Tipperary	16	156
Waterford	2	104
Westmeath	20	130
Wexford	14	160
Wicklow	4	14*

*The figures shown for Kildare/Wicklow and Cork represent the time frame for any case lodged since the roll out of ITRIS. I have been informed by the Land Registry that pre-ITRIS cases in these areas are taking approximately 22 months to complete in Kildare and Wicklow and 14 months in Cork.

As the Deputy will be aware, arising out of the increased activity in the property market, the intake of applications in the Land Registry and the Registry of Deeds has grown to an unprecedented level with each successive year setting new record levels. From current figures available it appears that the intake of applications for 2001 will be approximately 160,000. The Deputy will be aware that last year, in order to address the increasing intake of applications, I received sanction from my colleague, the Minister for Finance, to increase the staffing compliment of the Land Registry by 77. Most of these appointments were made during the past year and the training of the new staff is now beginning to pay dividends. Already this year, to the end of September, over 112,000 dealings, representing an increase in output for the same period of almost 47% over year 2000, have been completed. I can also inform the Deputy that I have recently received sanction for a further 19 temporary posts, and a recruitment drive to fill these posts is at present in progress.

I can inform the Deputy that the ITRIS (Integrated Title Registration Information System) is now operational in nine counties which represent over 60% of all dealings lodged. The ITRIS will be extended to all counties by the end of 2002. I can assure the Deputy that every effort is being made by the management and staff of the Land Registry to address the situation. The Land Registry management are implementing some proactive measures, including 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 continue to improve.