Seanad debates

Thursday, 5 May 2005

Registration of Deeds and Title Bill 2004: Second Stage (Resumed).

 

12:00 pm

Photo of Martin ManserghMartin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister and his officials to the House. I also welcome this important reforming and probably long overdue legislation. As the Minister outlined in his speech, much of the legislation dealing with deeds and land transfers is exceptionally arcane, if not archaic.

I wish to address the legislation, first, from the point of view of modern needs and, second, as someone with an interest in history, from the point of view of some of the more archaic aspects. It is obvious that we need an efficient and much less cumbersome form of registration. I recall taking this view when I first became an adviser in 1981. We were in Opposition at the time and I was taken to lunch with a couple of solicitors by my then party leader. I was perhaps foolish, green and naive enough to make this suggestion, which was not welcomed by the solicitor friends. My leader, in his inimitable fashion, shut me up promptly. The need for these nice little earners, so to speak, for the legal profession no longer exists — I notice Senator Tuffy giving me a slightly icy look.

Whatever about the situation in 1981, in light of the amount of business currently being transacted, one does not need archaic props to support the earnings of solicitors. Of course, if we want to be competitive in the modern world we must find far more efficient ways of dealing with issues. I look forward to the other pieces of the jigsaw such as the e-conveyancing which is promised. One of the drawbacks of the use of electronic means is that one must be able to draw down a permanent record at any time.

The Bill involves the consolidation of an authority that goes back to the reign of Queen Anne. This has a certain family interest for me in that during her reign, in 1704, an ancestor of mine bought out a lease from the Duke of Ormond. I am sure the deed exists somewhere. This history is fairly complicated in that one is talking about Acts of Settlement, penal laws, restrictions on transfer of land, church disestablishment, the Land Acts, the burning of the Custom House, ground rents and so on. These are complicated issues, some of which many of us will have brushed up against either in a suburban context dealing with ground rents or dealing with the transfer of land from one generation to another.

I will visit the King's Inns this evening for the launch of a book in connection with that infamous Chancellor Fitzgibbon. Whether he would have approved of what the Minister is doing is an open question. The Minister referred to galloping Smith and clearly we fell behind the posse in that regard. It is clear that in the Registry of Deeds there is a historical treasure trove in terms of social history. It is a bit like the present day Land Commission records which are not yet generally accessible.

As a result of the opening of the Bureau of Military History, I have just finished reading a marvellous book in which the Minister's grandfather is mentioned. It is entitled Witnesses: Inside the Easter Rising by Annie Ryan. These documents can be used to illuminate political and social history. As we move into the electronic age, it is important that these ancient deeds are properly preserved and made accessible. I accept it would be a long-term project to have these documents recorded in electronic form so that they can be more easily consulted. Social history prior to the French revolution is heavily based on the study of deeds. We are far from having fully explored all aspects of local land and regional history. Future generations of historians can do an immense amount of work in this regard.

Naturally the Minister and his officials are focused on the needs of a modern economy, and rightly so. However, I urge him to ensure that the heritage aspects are also properly looked after.

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