Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail)

I am pleased the Minister has attended the House in person. She is one of the more imaginative Ministers in the Government and has a great deal on her plate. The functions of the General Register Office are not among the better known responsibilities of her Department.

Senator Leyden's Bill is excellent legislation which deserves all-party support. It is a shame that Ministers in the previous Government did not provide time in the Dáil to progress it. Their failure in this regard showed a distinct lack of imagination on the part of some albeit not all of them. It is unfortunate that time was not available to discuss it. When presented with logical, sensible legislation of this nature one has a tendency to ask why no one thought of it previously. While I accept the Bill may give rise to some costs, the problem could be easily addressed by deciding not to commence the legislation until we can afford to do so or sufficient staff are in place. Costs should not be cited as a reason for opposing the Bill.

I speak as someone who worked in general legal practice for a short number of years before being elected to politics. The drafting of a will is one of the most solemn tasks one can undertake. It should be noted that anyone may draft a will. Only last week, I received a call from my office concerning the drafting of a particular will five or six years ago. The questions of who witnessed, wrote and took instructions on a will are extremely important.

The Bill addresses the problems of lost, missing and unknown wills, which are more common than one would expect. Every month, the Law Society Gazette features a long list of names of deceased persons whose relatives are searching for a will. The legislation proposes to make the process more efficient by registering the execution of a will. This does not mean a will cannot be changed or added to by way of codicil but simply that it will no longer be necessary for people seeking to trace a will to place advertisements in the Law Society Gazette or write letters to every solicitor in their town or region. For someone in my position working as a solicitor in Drogheda, in fact, it would have been prudent to write to all solicitors in Dublin because it was a frequent occurrence for people living in the commuter belt area to deal with city centre solicitors on very personal matters that they might not wish to discuss with local solicitors. That is a huge burden on solicitors and families and it would be solved by the enactment of this Bill.

The fact that the Minister for Social Protection is present is probably due to the fact that the Bill proposes that this registration process be carried out in the General Register Office, GRO. That is important although, frankly, I believe it could just as easily be done by the Property Registration Authority or another suitable body. Senator Leyden has particular connections with the GRO as it is located in County Roscommon. However, I understand there might be some resistance within the General Register Office. If it is about resources, that is fair enough. We know civil servants are under pressure and so forth. Nevertheless, it should not be about resources but about the principle of the Bill and whether it is a good thing or not.

I understand the Law Society might have had some concerns about it in the past but I do not know what its current position is. However, speaking as somebody who is involved in this area I believe it would be excellent that if a deceased person's family comes to one's office and one does not have the will in the office, there would be a simple procedure, which could probably be carried out in the course of a day, to find out if there is a will registered elsewhere.

It would also be a useful measure to tackle fraud with wills. There is a certain element of fraud with regard to wills. If somebody is drawing up a will fraudulently or forcing a person who is not of sound mind to write a will, and there are certainly allegations that this happens from time to time, they would be less likely to register the will. It would never be mandatory but the fact of registration would, perhaps, give it some extra authenticity, even though the strict legal requirements for authenticating a will are set out.

In summary, I support this Bill as a worthy and necessary legislative measure. If cost is given as a reason that it cannot proceed, a commencement date can be included so it would not necessarily have to become law immediately. The Bill will assist more efficient legal practice and will benefit families who are in a really difficult position going to see a solicitor after the death of a loved one. It will also remove confusion and, indeed, would comply with our obligations under the EU-IMF agreement under which the legal services industry is to be deregulated further, made more accessible to the public and made more competitive. The Bill would add to the competitiveness of that aspect of legal services, given that it is a huge element of legal practice in rural areas.