Vol. 418 No. 2
46 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Justice if he will make a statement on the apparent inconsistency in the Government's intentions regarding the abolishment of ground rents whereby it is intended to abolish all ground rents from 1 January 1997, but payment of compensation to the ground landlord will continue to apply on the same basis as at present.
The Deputy will appreciate that any proposal to abolish ground rents without compensation would not be in keeping with constitutional requirements and it was in that context that the commitment in the Programme for Government in relation to the abolition of ground rents indicated that payment of compensation would continue to apply on a similar basis as at present. As I indicated in my replies to Questions Nos. 119 of 19 November 1991 and 57, 58 and 59 of 30 January 1992 work has commenced in my Department with a view to the Government's commitment and when proposals are finalised they will be announced in the usual way.
