I thank the Minister for coming here today. There is a serious situation in the Land Registry which requires urgent attention. There are enormous delays in house and land transactions. I understand the backlog of cases to be dealt with now stands at around 50,000, the highest figure in the history of the State, and it has risen by around 10,000 in the past few months. The Land Registry Office was established about 100 years ago by the Registration of Title Act, 1891, and now operates under the 1964 Act. In introducing the 1964 Bill the then Minister for Justice, now the Taoiseach stated that the system of registration provided for in the 1964 Bill was intended to be cheap, simple and effective. Twenty five years later it is clear that the Land Registry meet none of those objectives.
The average delay in transferring a site at the moment is around two years. When mapping difficulties arise there is an additional delay of around 20 months. There are also, I understand, 12,000 Land Commission vestings in arrears and it takes approximately 11 years to complete such vesting. The Land Registry Office receives about £10 million in fees for about 80,000 dealings lodged each year and for about 120,000 applications for copies of title maps and so on. The problem really is that the Land Registry Office is just not able to do the job for which it was established. It is failing to provide any reasonable service to the Irish people, its customers.
I understand that staff of the Land Registry has been reduced by 75 people since 1986 and that 35 new staff will be appointed in 1990. I would like to ask the Minister how many of these have been recruited today? What is the training time until they reach their full potential? How soon will any outstanding vacancies be filled? Even with these extra 35 officers the Land Registry Office will be 40 people short of its full staff complement. There has been a considerable cutback on overtime this year. If I am incorrect will the Minister says why is this the case, why is there a cutback in overtime at a time where there is such a backlog of cases?
I welcome the recent appointment of the Land Registrar. In the chaotic conditions prevailing in the Land Registry it is hard to understand why the Minister for Justice took 15 months to make this appointment. Morale in the office is at an all-time low and the frustration with their situation is causing experienced staff to leave thereby compounding the already serious situation.
Every Senator and TD knows the difficulty in that office already because we are regularly inundated with requests from our constituents to make representations. We compound the situation to an extent by regularly contacting the Registry in the hope of getting some information for very frustrated constituents who cannot understand why they have to wait so long for what appears to be a simple transaction.
At present there are about 250,000 people unemployed and 1,000 people are emigrating each week. In these circumstances all State procedures should encourage and assist economic development in order to provide much needed jobs. The consequence of the present delays in the Land Registry is that economic activity has slowed down. Building work has been postponed or even cancelled, and industrial and commercial projects are being affected. This means loss of valuable jobs. Many people purchasing homes are saddled with the enormous additional cost of bridging finance while awaiting title to produce to financial institutions. This can add up to £2,000 to the cost of a house.
The Land Registry is subject to crippling limitations which limits their ability to operate in an efficient way. The control of staffing, the fixing of fees and even the purchase of equipment are under the control of the Minister for Justice, who must obtain approval from the Minister for Finance. The rigidity of the Civil Service structures ensures that the registry cannot operate in a modern, efficient, commercial and business-orientated fashion.
There must be a change in the way the Land Registry operate. It should be established as an efficient, business-orientated semi-State company. It is time to remove the inefficiency of bureaucracy from the Land Registry and allow it recruit the necessary staff and equipment and give the customer the service he or she deserves. There are precedents for this. Telecom Éireann, Coillte Teoranta and An Post are now operating effectively. The service provided by those bodies has improved dramatically since they were removed from the control of the Civil Service. I accept that there are some difficulties especially with An Post but they will be overcome in time with modern management and commercial and business orientated techniques being applied to obtain the efficiencies needed.
The Land Registry is capable of operating profitably. This year the office is expected to contribute £10.3 million to the Exchequer through fees and other sources of income. This will represent a profit of £1 million to the Exchequer. It is clear there is a sustainable case for establishing the Land Registry office as an efficient commercially-orientated semi-State body. I am aware the registry do not charge fees for Government or Agricultural Credit Corporation transactions. I am not introducing that into the equation because in the present context it can be claimed that moneys are voted for the Minister for Justice and accommodation is available in the Four Courts.
The Minister for Justice has a lot on his hands at present but this is an important matter. It is important to thousands of people awaiting information on their transactions. I ask the Minister present to urge the Minister for Justice to give the people who pay for the service what they are paying for.
