Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 7 May 2003

Vol. 566 No. 1

Written Answers. - Registration of Title.

Michael Ring

Question:

621 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if it is the intention of the Land Registry Office to discontinue issuing folios which show the names and dealing references of former registered owners together with the current registered owner. [11590/03]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. McDowell)

I am informed by the Registrar of Titles that the register of ownership created and maintained by the Land Registry is made up of approximately two million folios. The first folio was opened in 1892 and over the years a number of different formats have been used for folios in order to improve the clarity of the information therein. The vast majority of folios are structured into three parts: Part 1 describes the property; Part 2 identifies the owner(s); and Part 3 shows the burdens etc. affecting the property. I am further informed that prior to computerisation, all folios were created and held in paper format and previous or former owners and cancelled burdens were simply struck out manually when they no longer affected the property. However, these cancelled entries still remained visible, albeit no longer forming part of the register. Where such folios were subsequently revised, it has always been the practice of the Land Registry to show only current or extant entries on the face of the revised folio in order to provide the relevant information in as clear and concise a manner as possible. Formerly the majority of folio revisions arose as a result of vestings and consolidations by the Irish Land Commission. Currently most new folios are created when a parcel of land is divided; typically this arises for new houses. I am also informed that with the computerisation of folios in the Land Registry this practice of revising a folio has continued, i.e. on revision only current information is displayed as part of the folio. The historical information is, of course, still retained by the Land Registry as part of the background archive. Should this historical information be required for a particular purpose, the Land Registry is in a position to retrieve same, although it no longer forms part of the register.

Michael Ring

Question:

622 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of applications for folios, file plan and copy instruments pending in the Land Registry Office; and the details on a county and regional basis of the average delays in issuing same. [11591/03]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. McDowell)

The information required by the Deputy is set out in the following tabular statement. The total number of pending applications for each of the three categories specified is:

Certified Copy Folios	575
Certified Copy Folios with filed plan maps	11,217
Certified Copy Instruments	974

Certified copy Folios.

The following table sets out the average delays for processing requests for Land Registry certified copy folios on a county by county basis.

County	Electronic or Public Counter Request	Postal Request
Carlow	2-5 days	5-10 days
Cavan	2-5 days	10 days
Clare	1-2 days	5 days
Cork	1-2 days	5-10 days
Donegal	2-5 days	10 days
Dublin	1-2 days	1-2 days
Galway	1-2 days	5 days
Kerry	1-2 days	6-10 days
Kildare	1-2 days	2 days
Kilkenny	2-5 days	5-10 days
Laois	2-5 days	5-10 days
Leitrim	2-5 days	10 days
Limerick	1-2 days	6-10 days
Longford	1-2 days	10 days
Louth	1-2 days	10 days
Mayo	1-2 days	5 days

County	Electronic or Public Counter Request	Postal Request
Meath	1-2 days	10 days
Monaghan	1-2 days	10 days
Offaly	1-2 days	5-10 days
Roscommon	1-2 days	5 days
Sligo	1-2 days	5 days
Tipperary	1-2 days	6-10 days
Waterford	1-2 days	5-10 days
Westmeath	2-5 days	10 days
Wexford	2-5 days	5-10 days
Wicklow	1-2 days	2 days

Certified Copy Folios with filed plan map

The following table sets out the average times taken in working days for processing requests for certified copy folios with filed plan map on a county by county basis. Over 60% of all applications are made electronically or at the public counters. Approximately 80% of folios already have a filed plan map prepared.

County	Electronic or Public Counter Request where Filed Plan exists	Electronic or Public Counter Request where Filed Plan is not prepared	Postal Request where Filed Plan exists	Postal Request where Filed Plan is not prepared
Carlow	2-5 days	6-10 days	10-15 days	25-30 days
Cavan	2-5 days	25-30 days	10-15 days	35-40 days
Clare	1-2 days	25-30 days	10 days	30-35 days
Cork	1-2 days	10-15 days	7-10 days	15-20 days
Donegal	2-5 days	25-30 days	10-15 days	35-40 days
Dublin	1-2 days	10-15 days	5 days	15-20 days
Galway	1-2 days	25-30 days	10 days	30-35 days
Kerry	1-2 days	6-10 days	15 days	20-25 days
Kildare	1-2 days	10-15 days	5-10 days	15-20 days
Kilkenny	2-5 days	6-10 days	10-15 days	25-30 days
Laois	2-5 days	6-10 days	10-15 days	25-30 days
Leitrim	1-2 days	25-30 days	10-15 days	35-40 days
Limerick	1-2 days	6-10 days	15 days	20-25 days
Longford	2-5 days	25-30 days	10-15 days	35-40 days
Louth	2-5 days	25-30 days	10-15 days	35-40 days
Mayo	1-2 days	25-30 days	10 days	30-35 days
Meath	2-5 days	6-10 days	10-15 days	35-40 days
Monaghan	2-5 days	6-10 days	10-15 days	35-40 days
Offaly	2-5 days	6-10 days	10-15 days	25-30 days
Roscommon	1-2 days	25-30 days	10 days	30-35 days
Sligo	1-2 days	25-30 days	10 days	30-35 days
Tipperary	2-5 days	6-10 days	15 days	20-25 days
Waterford	1-2 days	10-15 days	7-10 days	15-20 days
Westmeath	2-5 days	25-30 days	10-15 days	35-40 days
Wexford	2-5 days	6-10 days	10-15 days	25-30 days
Wicklow	1-2 days	6-10 days	5-10 days	10-15 days

Certified Copy Instruments

The average time taken for processing requests for certified copy instruments is 30 working days. There is no significant difference from county to county. The majority of applications are completed inside 15 days. However, a percentage of requests relate to large instruments or other problem cases and this raises the average time to 30 days.