Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputies for their contributions and for their broad support for this measure. While it contains many technical proposals and measures, it also establishes the property registration authority to manage and control the Land Registry and the Registry of Deeds. The aim of the Bill is to modernise and streamline registration mechanisms and procedures.

The Government recognises the contribution an efficient and accessible land registration system can make to improving the climate for business and enhancing business activity. It is an essential requirement in a modern successful economy. We should not underestimate its practical importance for individual home owners wishing to dispose of their property or to borrow funds for whatever reason.

Many of the points raised in Deputies' contributions were of a detailed nature and are therefore more appropriate for discussion on Committee Stage. I wish to respond on some of the more general policy issues that were raised during the debate. Promoting and extending registration of ownership of land will be a key function for the new property registration authority. The first attempt to introduce registration of title in Ireland was in the Record of Title (Ireland) Act 1865. Its scope was, however, limited to land sales that were sanctioned by the Landed Estates Court under the Landed Estates Court (Ireland) Act 1858. This legislation was an attempt to free up large estates incumbered by family settlements by permitting sale of the land and using the proceeds to discharge the incumbrances. This allowed the purchasers to acquire clear title to the land in question. The 1865 Act made provision for registering such titles but did not establish a dedicated land registry. As a result, little use was made of the registration option.

Apart from this little-known historical episode, the various land purchase Acts at the end of the 19th century led to the establishment of the local registration of title system in Ireland. The land purchase legislation provided loans for tenant farmers to purchase their holdings from landlords subject to annual repayments in the form of land purchase annuities. As these schemes involved the advancing of large amounts of public funds, it was considered that title to the lands in question — which formed the security for the loans and which might have to be sold in the event of default — should be secured by means of registration in a modern system.

Arising from this, the Local Registration of Title (Ireland) Act 1891 established the Land Registry and provided that the registration of title was compulsory in all cases where land was purchased under the land purchase schemes. All this land has remained within the registration of title system. The system brought about by the 1891 Act is the correct system for the registration of titles, pioneered by the theorist Torrens and reflecting on the local register the actual ownership of the land. The significance of the 1891 Act is that we have now arrived at the stage where approximately 85% of the land in the State, including almost all farmland, is registered in the Land Registry.

The Registration of Title Act 1964 modernised the 1891 Act and restated its basic and essential provisions in a reformed format. It foresaw the gradual extension of compulsory registration, but in reality very little progress has been made in compulsory registration, notwithstanding that the registration of titles system in the 1964 Act is the superior system for the registration of land transactions. Listening to some Deputies and their complaints about the Land Registry and the delays therein, one might wonder if it is the superior system that is alleged. Those are, however, operational matters. The theory of the Land Registry is undoubtedly superior to other registration systems.

Compulsory registration was applied to counties Carlow, Laois and Meath in 1970. The compulsory registration order that the Minister made in September last means that counties Longford, Roscommon and Westmeath will join these counties as compulsory registration areas with effect from 1 April next. Since most of the farmland in these counties is already registered in the Land Registry, the main impact of the order will be on transactions involving urban land in these areas.

While urban land outside compulsory areas may be registered under existing provisions on a voluntary basis, much of it remains unregistered because of the time and effort that may be required to register it and because of the difficulties that may arise in sorting out complex pyramid titles. It is difficult to state how many unregistered titles remain at the present time, and there may be as many as 350,000. A major challenge for the new authority will therefore be to devise a strategy to promote and extend registration of urban land.

The Minister has already agreed to a change in land registration rules proposed by the rules committee which increases the self-certification limit on applications for first registration received from solicitors from €250,000 to €1 million. This means that a solicitor who has examined a title and is satisfied that the property is free from any adverse rights, restrictive covenants or incumbrances can certify it and apply for absolute title for his or her client and this will be accepted by the Land Registry.

The reforms contained in this Bill will undoubtedly lead to operational efficiencies within the Land Registry and, as a result, to increased capacity to deal with applications for registration. On the need for additional resources, the Minister prefers to await the views of the authority on this matter in due course.

Several Deputies mentioned the need to modernise our land and conveyancing laws. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is committed to law reform in the two related areas for which he has responsibility, namely, substantive land and conveyancing law and the land registration systems which are dealt with in the Bill before us. The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform is involved in a joint project with the Law Reform Commission with a view to modernising our land and conveyancing laws. The first phase of the project resulted in a Law Reform Commission consultation paper on reform and modernisation of land law and conveyancing law which contains more than 90 recommendations for a radical and far-reaching overhaul of all our land and conveyancing statutes. It was published in October 2004 and was followed by a consultation process.

The next stage of the project was the publication of a Law Reform Commission report which the Minister launched on 14 July 2005 and which contains a draft land and conveyancing law Bill. The Government legislation programme which was published last week provides for the publication of the Bill in 2006. Work is already under way on preparing a text for publication.

The joint project identified more than 160 pre-1922 statutes which should now be repealed, the earliest of which date back to the 13th century. The repeal of redundant statute law and the removal of outdated notions such as feudal tenure will represent a significant contribution to the process of regulatory reform, including statute law revision, to which the Government has committed itself.

In light of a recent judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, the Minister wishes to put on record a few words concerning adverse possession. The statutory position is that applications for title based on adverse possession of land are made to the Land Registry under section 49 of the Registration of Title Act 1964. In such cases, the applicant claims that the rights of the registered owner have been extinguished under the Statute of Limitations and that the applicant is now entitled to be registered as owner. For obvious reasons, the Land Registry considers all applications for registration based on adverse possession with particular care and attention. In each case, the facts and circumstances are examined in great detail and it is usual for notices to be served on the parties whose rights have allegedly been extinguished by the passage of time.

Some applications are withdrawn by the applicant on receipt of correspondence from the Land Registry outlining the legal conditions that are necessary to acquire title by means of adverse possession. Where it appears to the Registrar of Titles that an application in any particular case is vexatious or frivolous or does not meet the stringent requirements of section 49, the application will be refused. It is open to any party to a section 49 application to appeal a decision of the Registrar of Titles to the courts but in practice, such appeals are rare.

The Registrar of Titles has informed me that the stay that she placed, with effect from 7 December 2005, on the processing of applications based on adverse possession of land was temporary pending consideration of the European Court of Human Rights judgment in the case of J.A. Pye (Oxford) Ltd v. the United Kingdom. The stay was lifted with effect from 5 January 2006. The full implications of the ECHR judgment in this case have yet to be determined. However, it does not become effective until mid-February at the earliest. In the event of a successful appeal of the judgment by the UK authorities under existing appeal mechanisms, the case will be reconsidered by the Grand Chamber at Strasbourg and a new judgment will be delivered in due course.

Before concluding, the Minister wishes to inform the House that he intends to introduce several amendments to the Bill on Committee Stage which are intended further to improve efficiencies within the registries. These proposals have been triggered by earlier discussions in Seanad Éireann and by the responses of the Land Registry and the Law Society to issues that have been raised in connection with the Bill. They include the phasing out of land certificates and certificates of charge. It is accepted by interested bodies, including the Law Reform Commission, the Law Society, the Irish Mortgage Council and the Land Registry, that the continued use and operation of land certificates and certificates of charge constitutes an obstacle to the introduction and operation of electronic conveyancing. The Minister intends to provide on Committee Stage for a phasing out of these certificates.

Another issue concerns permitting applications for qualified title. While existing legislation allows the Registrar of Deeds and Titles to grant qualified title in certain cases, such as where the registrar is not satisfied that absolute title is justified, it does not allow applicants to apply for such title. The Minister intends to remedy this shortcoming by allowing applications for qualified title. The 1964 Act already contains provisions that permit, with the passage of time, the conversion of such titles into absolute titles.

The Minister intends to provide that leases of registered land will also be registered. At present, the owner of registered land may lease the property, or part of it, and the lease is deemed to convey an unregistered leasehold interest. For the lease to be registered, the lessee must apply for a first registration. This takes both time and money. The Minister intends to amend the 1964 Act to make it much easier to register leases of registered property. The aim of these amendments is to simplify registration procedures further with a view to reducing delays and paving the way for electronic conveyancing of land.

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