Vol. 510 No. 4
57 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for Finance if he will respond positively to the written request from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform for the allocation of additional staff to deal with the increase in the level of business in land registry and to reduce the increased waiting time in dealing with and processing files; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22184/99]
I have an application from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform for a large number of additional staff for Land Registry to deal both with the backlog of work in the office and with work associated with the conversion of the Land Registry to semi-State status. That application is being considered in conjunction with a number of other proposals for additional staffing in the Justice area and in the context of the Estimates for the Public Services for 2000. I hope to be in a position to take a decision on this proposal in the next week or so, following the publication of the Estimates volume.
