Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I agree with Deputy Cuffe's remarks about ground rent. The time when that issue should have been dealt with by successive Governments has long since passed, but it still needs to be grappled with. This country's system of land registration is outdated and inefficient. Although I welcome this Bill in so far as it goes, it is clear that it does not go far enough. The legislation before the House will not deliver the kind of reform and simplification that is necessary and long overdue. The Government has a duty to ensure that the State has an effective land registration system, which is needed by individuals and business.

This Bill updates the law on registration of deeds and ownership of land and provides a statutory basis for the electronic registration of deeds and title. It will modernise the system that is in place in the Land Registry. It will also modernise the Registry of Deeds, which is archaic at present. The current system places unnecessary financial and time burdens on people buying property, including the already financially stretched first-time home buyers. One could surmise this position has been allowed to persist because of the financial benefit of the system to the legal profession. When buying a house one must go through a solicitor who will then use the services of a law searcher to carry out the various searches that need to be done on the property and the people buying and-or selling it. These include property searches in the Land Registry and Registry of Deeds, judgment and bankruptcy searches in the High Court and sometimes planning searches in the local authority. These can be costly and if the sale does not go through straight away, they may have to be carried out again. For example, just because a judgment was not filed against a person on 1 May does not mean the sale can through on 5 May. Obviously, it is an inefficient system and the net result is that people buying and selling property end up spending extra money on solicitors' fees and unnecessary time on the process

There is a strong case which Sinn Féin would support — I am sure the Minister would be pleased to hear Sinn Féin could support him on any issue — for compulsory registration of property and the phasing out of the registration of deeds system in favour of a simplified system of land registry. While this would involve considerable work during the transition stage, it would pay off in the long term.

I note the Minister has spoken of the fact that his Department was involved in a joint project with the Law Reform Commission aimed at the modernising of conveyancing law which involved the publication of a consultation paper and consultation process. He indicated he would seek Government approval for proposals for future legislation in this area towards the end of the year. The Law Reform Commission's report on reform and modernisation of land law and conveyancing law was published in July and included a draft land and conveyancing Bill. When does the Minister expect this legislation to be published? The sooner the better it is brought before the Houses of the Oireachtas. Many of us would be of the view that the Minister would be much better deployed involving himself in this type of legitimate activity rather than much of the propagandising he does on issues well outside his portfolio.

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