Mr. Patrick Davitt:

The Property Registration Authority has responsibility for setting up the system and has indicated that the process in this regard will take two and a half years to complete. We believe this to be the case on the basis of statements made. We met representatives of the Irish Banking Federation which, as the Chairman indicated, is very supportive of both e-conveyancing and moves to make it happen as quickly as possible. It previously indicated its support for the concept but withdrew it when nothing happened. However, it is back on board because it believes the Law Society of Ireland is serious about taking action on this occasion. We also believe this to be the case. The Oireachtas could push the Property Registration Authority into committing to a reasonable timeframe that would be a lot less than two and a half years. In that context, introduction might be possible within one year. We hope the Oireachtas will be able to do as we suggest. We accept that it is not possible for it to wave a magic wand to facilitate the introduction of e-conveyancing tomorrow. However, we would like it to exert pressure on the authority because its influence would be much greater than ours.