Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I may be drifting away from the Bill but I am not drifting away from its principle which is that the people of this country are frustrated with the Civil Service for which they are paying good money. They cannot get through to the Land Registry, HSE or county councils. They are asking us, as politicians, what we are doing about this. Whatever system is established needs something for the customers. If they ring the Land Registry, they should be able to talk to someone who will answer their questions and give them the necessary information instead of being diverted to message minders.

The Land Registry should be modernised quickly. I do not want to see a situation arise like that which has arisen in the health service or the county councils with the introduction of another layer of bureaucracy but no improvement in services. If this happens, we will have failed again as we have failed repeatedly over recent years. We are very good at creating jobs and introducing legislation but they do not appear to improve the service to the public. People are becoming angry and frustrated with State services and it will not be long before they take to the streets to express this anger and frustration very sharply. Very busy people pay good money for services but cannot get answers from either their solicitors, the Land Registry, the HSE or anyone else. I hope this Bill will work and bring about a modern Land Registry to enable people to know that their business will be completed in a very short period.

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