Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. The Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, has already given a full and detailed explanation of the reasons for this Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2013, which is meant to deal with a loophole that has arisen with the 2009 Act. That law was introduced to reform the Registration of Title Act 1964 and the Conveyancing Acts 1881 to 1911.

It is interesting to hear Senator Byrne argue that this legislation should not proceed. It is important to consider the Minister's speech for a clear example of what he is talking about. He states "However, in the Start Mortgages case which I mentioned earlier, the High Court interpreted this provision of the Interpretation Act in a manner which restricts the application of the law in force prior to 1 December 2009 to certain cases where default had occurred prior to that date and demand for repayment had also been made before that date." Taking Senator Byrne's comments into account, this means that if a person owns a €5 million house in default prior to 1 December 2009, with demand for repayment made prior to that date, the Senator wants the person to continue living in that house.