Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

To qualify what I am saying, I have had no involvement at all in conveyance of property at any stage. I am completely agnostic regarding this and know nothing about it other than what I am reading here. I am very concerned about what the witnesses said on that. Basically, the principle that the Law Society is working from is "buyer beware". It is up to the buyer. The whole process is started when the buyer gets involved, which slows the whole thing down. It seems the process is trying to ensure that some of the things that cause delays in the process are upfront and put in front of the buyer before they get involved and agree that they want to do it. That seems to be perfectly reasonable and I do not see why it should be a problem. Obviously it is a problem in terms of solicitors going through their work, loading on fees and stuff like that.

Even with all the stuff loaded upfront, a person still has to check it to make sure it is right because, God knows, solicitors and buyers will game the system as well and say things they may not necessarily write. There are still going to be delays in checking and verifying the processes that have been used. Were I to buy a property, I would like to think my solicitor would not take the word of the vendor on what they are doing. I know of cases where people have taken the word of the vendor and ended up badly stung. I just wonder how the whole process is going to work out. The principle of buyer beware, which the Law Society referred to, seems to be the problem. If that is the problem, what is the workable alternative?