Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Perhaps I could help. I asked this question five years ago. It was revealed that the State was paying ground rent to landlords, such as the Earl of Pembroke for buildings on Merrion Square and the Duke of Leinster, who owns land where the National Library is situated. These ground rents, which are a legacy of our colonial past, are also known as leaseholds. The State's ground rent bill for Iveagh House, where the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade presides, is paid to an absentee landlord. The same applies to Dublin Castle. In the year of the centenary of the Easter Rising, we are perpetuating a system that is a hangover. The money involved is quite small. The ground rent for Iveagh House is a mere €257. That for the Four Courts is a mere €200 and the bill for Dublin Castle is only €7 but there are 250,000 ground rents around the State that have an impact on individual homeowners who want to sell their homes but who need to require the freehold in order to do so. Will the Government consider introducing legislation to end this system once and for all? It is a feudal tax and, as I have said, it is a hangover from the days of British colonial rule on this part of the island and should be abolished.

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