Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for not opposing and for taking a constructive approach in terms of referring it to committee. I thank the Sinn Féin Party. Other parties expressed support as well. We are all on the same page in terms of trying to achieve the outcome. Ultimately, to follow on from Deputy Ó Broin, it is all about consumers. While we are here in the presence of some of the professional bodies, if we do not have buyers and sellers there is no business for anybody and we are not generating taxation or anything else. It is all about them and making it more efficient.

I listened carefully to the challenges the Minister and Department feel need to be addressed. That is what Committee Stage is for. Nobody is overly precious about any aspects of the Bill. We all want to achieve the same thing. On Committee Stage we can tease out any aspect of that.

Nevertheless, I will offer some rebuttal. The UK experience was probably about 13 and a half years ahead of its time and 87% of property practitioners in the UK now feel the home information packs, as they were called there, would be better placed to succeed today. Documentation is much more readily available in the digital age and digital is acceptable for the transfer of documentation. In that context, we believe it is timely to bring this forward.

There is no evidence to suggest the pre-contract initiative which came from the Law Society has reduced conveyancing times. Neither will this add expense. Legal professionals currently prepare all of this documentation for public auctions. We just suggest it be done for everything and be done in advance. It will not be at extra cost. Planning compliance, site map, BER and all the title documentation will be required in advance, instead of doing it after sale agreed, when the clock is ticking on a six-month mortgage approval or loan offer. I am a licensed auctioneer and we have all experienced sales falling through because information cannot be got. We all know from experience that professional organisations, be they legal or other bodies, can be precious about things when it is not their idea but it is worth noting the Law Society did not choose to engage in the process when we were drawing that up, though we put it to it. We hope it will engage now. There is no threat to any of these bodies. Going down the route of conveyancer, which the Minister has suggested in the past, can only assist the process. The UK experience, I am afraid, does not stack up to what they are saying. The levelling-up white paper prepared by the British Government and Prime Minister before last is still on their agenda and is to reintroduce home information packs, acknowledging the fact we are in a different age and that they were a little ahead of themselves in 2010.

I know the joint Oireachtas committee is extremely busy but I hope it will embrace the role of teasing out the Bill as quickly as possible. We believe it will ultimately help consumers and make the jobs of solicitors, conveyancers and property service providers a little bit easier, once we get used to it. I again commend the Bill to the House and am grateful to colleagues for allowing us to proceed to committee. Hopefully we will get it enacted with whatever improvements the Minister sees fit as quickly as possible.

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