Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

I move amendment No. 4:

In page 7, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following:

3.—Part 3 of this Act shall cease to apply to the registration of new deeds as and from the date on which the Act of 1964 is applied by the Minister so as to require compulsory registration of title throughout this State.".

This is not unrelated to what we were discussing. I am concerned that despite the 1964 Act, we have an extremely poor level of registering title deeds. Under the 1964 legislation we are supposed to have compulsory registration throughout the country. Only three counties, namely, Laois, Carlow and Meath, have been registered. The Minister has begun the process of registration in Longford, Roscommon and Leitrim. Surely, compulsory registration is the way to achieve savings in conveyancing costs and all titles should be registered in the State.

The Minister of State mentioned establishing a property registration authority. We already have the 1964 Act in place, which makes provision for compulsory registration, but we have only registered title in three counties. God knows how long it will take to get something done under this legislation. It will be another 50 years before we have compulsory registration of title. That should be moved on. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is the first Minister in donkey's years to move the process on at least a little, as he considers fully registering three other counties. We have 26 counties to register, with an amount of title relating to cross-Border land, which would be even more difficult to deal with in many situations. Three from 26 leaves a great deal to be desired. Since 1964, 42 years have passed.

I raise this as an indication of how backward and slow we have been in dealing with this matter and how outdated are our present land registry and registry of deeds systems. We are in a mess and do not know where the title is, its quality or the registration of the title. We transfer and interchange title at a colossal rate, and Ireland is one of the leading countries to do so as the property market goes through a boom, with the accompanying sale of land and transfer of title. We are still in the dark ages when it comes to conducting our business. We should consider compulsory registration of title for the State. The Minister of State might indicate whether there is a move to initiate and institute compulsory registration of title nationwide. If so, are extra resources being put in place, extra staff being recruited and a map drawn of how the country will achieve full registration?

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