Áine Brady (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 6, between lines 49 and 50, to insert the following:

""authorised person" has the same meaning as it has in section 17;".

The collective purpose of these amendments is to provide for the possibility of electronic registration and discharge of charging orders under the nursing homes support scheme. This is consistent with the current e-conveyancing programme being pursued by the Property Registration Authority. The amendments enable the electronic creation and registration of charging orders by authorised persons within the HSE and the electronic discharge of charging orders by authorised persons within the HSE following repayment of ancillary State support. They also provide for the prescription by regulation of simple forms of charging order and discharge application for the purposes of the nursing homes support scheme.

The benefit of the amendments is significant in terms of ensuring a speedy, standardised and extremely cost-effective approach to processing charging orders. This is important in terms of enhancing public sector efficiency but also in terms of ensuring that families are not unduly delayed in selling or transferring property.

A final important point is that the amendments are enabling rather than restrictive in nature. As such, charging orders and applications for the discharge of charging orders can also continue to be processed under the existing paper based system. I ask Deputies to support these beneficial amendments.

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