Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

The House may recall that on Committee Stage I announced my intention to examine the existing provisions dealing with the compulsory registration of title in the Registration of Title Act 1964 with a view to introducing amendments on Report Stage that would promote and increase the rate of registration of land. This is all the more important now because promotion of registration of ownership will be one of the primary functions of the new property registration authority. Amendments Nos. 1 and 4 to 9, inclusive, are the result of the examination conducted in conjunction with the Land Registry.

Section 24 of the 1964 Act currently provides for the extension of compulsory registration. It allows the Minister, by order, to extend compulsory registration to any county or county borough. Only one order has been made to date. It was made in 1969 and it extended compulsory registration to three counties, Meath, Carlow and Laois.

What I am proposing for the future in amendment No. 8 is that the extension of compulsory registration will not be determined solely and exclusively by geographical criteria. I intend to retain the geographical dimension, which will mean it will be possible to designate a specified area such as a county, and to add two further criteria. First, it will be possible in future to extend compulsory registration to specified types of land, for example, multi-unit apartment buildings either generally or in a specific area. Second, I propose to introduce a new subsection into section 24 of the 1964 Act which will allow the Minister to extend, by order, the type of disposition to which compulsory registration will apply. At present, when registration becomes compulsory, it applies in the case of freehold land to a conveyance on sale and, in the case of leasehold land, to a grant or assignment on sale of such an interest.

The new subsection (2)(a) provides that an order under the section may extend compulsory registration to other types of disposition, for example, succession or gifts inter vivos, that is, between people who are alive. The new subsection (2)(b) is a standard provision which will allow an order to be amended or revoked. Amendment No. 1 provides that all such orders shall be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas.

Amendments Nos. 4 to 7, inclusive, are drafting amendments to section 23 of the 1964 Act, which take account of the changes made in section 24. They insert references to the new subsection (2)(a) in section 23. Amendment No. 9 is triggered as a result of these amendments. It substitutes a new clearer text in section 25 of the 1964 Act. The current text contains an ambiguity in regard to the date after which registration becomes compulsory.

While the new compulsory registration possibilities to which I referred will come on stream following the enactment of the Bill later this year, I am anxious in the meantime to make progress on compulsory registration under existing provisions in the 1964 Act. I, therefore, sought the views of the Land Registry regarding the possibility of extending compulsory registration to a number of additional counties. Following receipt of the registry's views, I will consider whether making such an order would be feasible.