(Cavan) asked the Minister for Justice (a) whether daily work targets are set for Land Registry officials, (b) by whom they are set and the sanctions imposed for non-fulfilment, (c) whether he considers Land Registry work is appropriate to a scheme of this kind because of the varying nature of the work, and (d) whether experience has shown that schemes of this kind result in the shedding of more difficult cases in order to reach targets.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Land Registry Work Targets.
33.
I have made extensive inquiries in the time at my disposal in relation to the functioning of the Land Registry.
Work targets are set at various levels, though not on a daily basis, and they have produced substantially improved results. The targets are set by the registrar in consultation with experienced officials including an organisation and methods officer with special training in this type of operation.
I am assured that the schemes in operation take full account of the question of possible deferment of more difficult cases. This is guarded against by adequate supervision.
(Cavan): Can the Minister say, if the targets are not daily targets, are they weekly targets?
No, they are not. In respect of the mapping branch they are monthly targets and in respect of the dealings branch they are, I think, annual targets—certainly annual for the more senior staff.
(Cavan): Will the Minister agree with me, as the Minister for Finance did in relation to the Estate Duty Office, that any sort of numerical targets are inappropriate to the Land Registry, where cases can be as different as chalk is to cheese, where one case might be dealt with in three minutes and another case might take three hours or a whole day? Will the Minister see to it that no such targets as I fear are in existence are operated? If the Minister makes inquiries he will find out that such targets have been in operation in recent times in his Department——
On an annual basis.
(Cavan):——and that some officials have been threatened with dismissal for not measuring up to these unreasonable and unreal targets?
I would agree that to set any sort of target over a short time would be unreasonable because one particular dealing or case might take several days, but it is not unrealistic to set them over a lengthy period of time such as a year when the long cases will balance out with the short ones. A year was the period, for some years past, in respect of the more senior officials.
(Cavan): Would the Minister also agree with me that as long as targets of this kind are operated there is a grave temptation to any official, coming near the end of the test period, to shed difficult cases and get on to easy cases so as to qualify? Will the Minister further agree that any targets like this should only be tested or supervised by people with a high degree of qualified knowledge in the sphere concerned?
As I already pointed out in my original reply to the Deputy, there is no danger of the more difficult cases being deferred, because there is adequate supervision to guard against that. The targets are set by the registrar in consultation with experienced officials.
Could the Minister do anything, by increasing the staff or otherwise, to expedite dealing with applications? Is the Minister not aware that many people have to wait long periods, more than six months in some cases, and, I understand from recent comments at a county council meeting in Cork, up to 12 months in others? Surely the Minister will agree this is completely unreasonable, and can he give the House any assurance this will not happen in the future, that some method will be devised which will enable speedier attention to be given to applications?
I am aware there have been some delays in the past, particularly in the mapping branch. A very special effort was made to overcome those and they are now beginning to be overcome successfully. The Deputy will appreciate that many of the complaints which he and other Deputies receive about alleged delays in the Land Registry are not, in fact, the fault of the Land Registry. Very often it is found on investigation that requisitions were issued three and six months earlier to the parties lodging the dealings and requisitions were not replied to at all or were not adequately replied to.
In view of the unrest there has been in that office over the targets set, would the Minister agree to look into this question of the appropriateness of targets of this kind to professional work, the incentives they give to skimp work or to postpone it? As a new Minister, will he agree to look at this again personally with an open mind rather than necessarily adopt a defensive stance on it?
There are some changes in the old system of targets in as much as the Land Registry has been re-organised into geographical functional groups. Each official concerned with dealings is now part of a group and the group work together in respect of a geographical area or a functional area in the case of leasehold folios. Therefore, that problem, if it is or was a problem, is not likely to arise in future.
(Cavan): Will the Minister keep an eye on it?
On his own practical experience.
The remaining Questions will appear on tomorrow's Order Paper.