Gerard Murphy (Cork North West, Fine Gael)

Fine Gael welcomes the introduction of this long overdue legislation. The review and reform of the systems of registration of title are badly needed. Land law, property law and conveyancing here are hugely complex and extremely archaic.

The Minister and his Department have been touting a major programme of reform of Irish land law and conveyancing law in conjunction with the Law Reform Commission. The Law Reform Commission, under Ms Justice Catherine McGuinness, is an agency of great integrity and achievement. It has an exemplary record of producing quality, thought-provoking and targeted documents that are invaluable to legislators and this Bill is no exception. The commission published a consultation paper on this subject just over a year ago and, as promised, published its report on reform and modernisation of land law and conveyancing law last July. The commission's consultation paper comprised a comprehensive review of all legislation in the area of land law and conveyancing, highlighting those statutes which should be repealed and suggesting how they might be replaced.

The programme of reform had three stated aims according to the Minister, namely, to simplify the law in this verbose area and to make it more easily understandable for both legal practitioners and the general public, to update the law in this area in the light of changes in social, demographic and economic needs and to make conveyancing easier and faster, thereby reducing the sometimes enormous costs that are associated with this legal service.

This last point is something that will strike a chord with many people, particularly young people who are trying to buy their first home or to move house. They are all too well acquainted with the many substantial costs associated with such a move, not least of which are solicitors' fees. Professional fees are measured on the recommended scale of 1% of the total price plus €100. The main outlays are stamp duty, Land Registry fees and fees for searches, but there is also normally a charge for miscellaneous outlays such as telephone, postage and photocopying.

Last year a conference was held at University College Dublin which examined the proposals put forward by the Law Reform Commission. This conference, entitled Modernising Irish Land Law and Conveyancing, also examined other areas of reform in Irish conveyancing practice, including the ongoing modernisation of the Land Registry and preparation for e-conveyancing. This Bill, therefore, is not so much ordinary legislation as a reforming statute that is the result of a long consultation process in which the considered input of many legal practitioners, academics and experts in this field were weighed.

Land is something to which there is great attachment in the Irish psyche. Following the Famine, the campaign for agrarian law reform became the focal point in Irish politics. The intensive campaigning of the Land League led to the passing of the Land Law (Ireland) Act 1881, which established the Land Commission and granted tenant farmers the three Fs — fair rent, freedom of sale and fixity of tenure. Subsequent Acts established land purchase schemes, whereby tenants could obtain long-term loans at reduced interest to purchase the freehold title to their land.

From the time of the evictions in the 18th and 19th centuries, when small Irish farmers tried to feed their families from indescribably small plots of grossly over-farmed land, through the Famine, to modern Ireland, where property seems impossibly expensive and is so far out of reach for so many people and so many young families, the Irish have retained a love of the land and a desire to own a small part of it. Today, Ireland has the highest rate of domestic owner-occupation in the European Union. It is right and proper, therefore, that we should take a strong interest in reform of this law and that we should make what efforts we can to make it as accessible and as legible as possible for ordinary, lay people.

To that end, I am sorry that not all the recommendations in the Law Reform Commission's report have been incorporated into the legislation. I hope the Minister sees this Bill as the first of many steps along the road. I understand there are to be other Bills arising from that report and that the Minister made a commitment in Seanad Éireann, on Second Stage of this Bill, that he would bring such Bills before the Oireachtas as are necessary to complete the reform process.

I particularly welcome the provisions in this Bill for e-conveyancing. As I said, the conveyancing process appears to be unduly costly. It is undoubtedly protracted and the evidence suggests it takes a great deal longer than it should or than it does in other countries in Europe. The one or two month process of buying a house in Ireland should and could be greatly reduced and I welcome any measures that bring new efficiencies to this process to bring it in line with our counterparts, particularly in this day and age of technology and instant monetary transfers.

Perhaps this is a throwback to the system established here under English law, an archaic and outdated structure based on feudal presumptions and tilted in favour of particular sections of society. Certainly, there is an imperative need to update such a system and to modernise it for the 21st century. Effective and efficient property registration systems and structures are essential requirements of a market economy. They are particularly important. Never in our history have we seen such a volume of land sales and expansion in all types of businesses, particularly the service sector. Capital for house and land purchases will always depend on a clear and good title being available as security for financial institutions.

Considering the massive increase in transactions in recent years, the Land Registry has been doing an excellent job, despite the fact the legislation it uses is totally out of sync with the capabilities of new technology. A World Bank report this year emphasised that doing business in the future will depend on every country having a quick and effective registration system. While Ireland was ranked 15th out of 145 countries surveyed, England was ranked seventh and is doing considerably better, despite the impressive information and communications technology advances made by the Registry of Deeds and the Land Registry in recent years.

It is easy to understand why the Land Registry received an award for its electronic services at the National Showcase and Public Service Excellence Awards. The annual report of the registry states that, despite a record intake of work, registry staff succeeded in boosting output to an unprecedented 206,000 cases, resulting in more than 333,000 registrations, thereby meeting current customer demand and reducing the backlog of cases. Unusually for a State body, the chief executive reported the document imaging project was completed on schedule and within budget. This project also contained elements relating to disaster recovery and business continuity, which are fundamental planks in the overall strategy and security of the system.

An indication of the success of the Land Registry access service is that almost 3,500 on-line business transactions are conducted daily and at least 80% of its customer base is using on-line facilities. Of the 769,000 electronic transactions availed of by customers, 86% were conducted instantly. This is in marked contrast to the old system under which service providers, county councils, health boards, solicitors, accountants and many businesses had to employ people on a permanent basis to visit the Land Registry offices daily where they manually struggled through the records with the assistance of staff. These new efficiencies have achieved a significant saving to the Exchequer. However, it is not clear whether these savings are being passed on to the consumer. Solicitors' offices are still the cornerstone of the registration of property and many are steeped in old fashioned traditions. They are aloof institutions which frustrate the will of ordinary citizens and small businesses. Such aloofness and tradition is used to confuse and justify unrealistic delays in solicitors' offices.

The Minister referred in the Seanad to the World Bank demanding an effective registration system to facilitate doing business effectively and efficiently. The progress of the Land Registry in recent years has been impressive but, for many individuals and small businesses, solicitors continue to slow the system through their outdated practices and unless the Minister deals with this logjam, improvements made by the registry and legislative changes will make little difference.

Solicitors should realise their very survival may depend on whether they modernise and become more responsible and accessible to a more demanding public. Many firms depend on conveyancing as a large element of their business. As the Land Registry becomes more effective in marketing its services on-line, legislation is amended to simplify transactions and more understandable, and consumers become more familiar with on-line transactions, there will not be as much demand for solicitors unless they modernise, change their attitude and realise that if they cannot provide a speedy and efficient service more professionally, consumers will work around them. If they continue as they are, the logjam in the registration system will remain at least in the short term.

I have come across instances where solicitors blamed the Land Registry for delays in registration, even though they were responsible. Members' facility to question the status of a transaction has exposed this problem on occasion. However, I refer to the major problem I have with this legislation. It provides that the Minister will not be accountable to the House. If a provision is not made in this regard, when we table parliamentary questions following the enactment of the legislation, we will receive a standard reply from the Ceann Comhairle's office stating the Minister has no responsibility for these matters. Parliamentary questions tabled to the Minister for Health and Children have been ruled out more frequently since the foundation of the Health Service Executive. At least under the old system the Minister forwarded the question to the chief executive of the relevant health board who would reply to the Member directly.

The Land Registry has made tremendous progress in computerisation in the past two years. The office will continue to make progress and, with the aid of legislative changes, it will become more efficient. I question the need in these circumstances to set up the property registration authority, a separate organisation that has no democratic accountability. The Minister correctly refused to set up a police authority, maintaining that the Minister of the day should be democratically accountable to the Dáil for policing matters, yet under this legislation he seeks to establish an independent registry of deeds even though the current body is doing an excellent job and is making major advances in providing all its services on-line. If anything, the office is well ahead of legislators and is awaiting legislation so that it can complete its task. If the Minister persists in this regard, he should incorporate into the Bill a system whereby the new registry of deeds will be obliged to answer Members' queries in the same way the Minister has done so effectively in the past. However, the Bill's objectives are welcome, although it is surprising it has taken so long to recognise that our registration system and laws are well out of date. We in Fine Gael will do everything to facilitate the passage of the Bill and other reforming legislation the Minister may introduce in this regard.

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