Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the frustration. I have had many people come to me, particularly about the long delays and the implications for them personally, but also in terms of the overall market. The best way we can address this is by moving towards a digitalised system. We are not there yet. Work is under way through my Department, working with the Courts Service and with significant investment behind it, on the modernisation programme. Separately, the former Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar, just before Christmas last year established a committee to look at conveyancing as well as probate and to make sure we have representatives from all of the different sectors and those impacted by this. As to what further progress can be made, when we move to a more digital system, it will mean we can have automated validation of information so people do not have incorrect information that is potentially going through a paper trail that takes much longer, but also that people will be able to track and follow their application in a way they cannot at the moment. That work is under way. I appreciate it is frustrating for people but there is a huge amount of work involved.

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