Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I second the Bill. If ever there was a truism, it is that where there is a will, there are relations. We have all heard horror stories. I recall one story from the Minister of State's neck of the woods of a man who owned a farm and had two daughters but no son. Living some distance from him was another family with the same family name but unrelated to him. He called to them and asked the woman of the house what was the name of her young fellow. She told him and asked why he was asking. He said he would leave the farm to him. The woman pointed out that the man had two daughters, but he said neither of his daughters had his surname. There is that type of mentality in parts of Ireland. We have all heard stories of people standing around a bed when someone was drawing his or her last breaths, pleading with him or her to sign over land or property.

Senator Michael McDowell in his Bill is setting out to take out the uncertainty of a situation where those who seek to profit almost blackmail the beneficiary of a will into buying them off in order to avoid litigation. If the Bill did nothing else, it would provide that level of certainty. It would stop people rushing to the law in the belief they were entitled to something to which they were not entitled and hoping to profit from it without having to appear in court. In many cases, that is what happens. It is high time we provided that level of certainty.

We also need to be more honest with each other. I recall speaking to a relation who had done very well in a bequest from another relative whom he had been advising. He was both the executor and the recipient. However, the advice he had given from a tax point of view was nonsense and he finished up paying half to the tax man, when it could have distributed among his brothers and sisters. These things happen. We need to be more open with one another about what we will do with our estates. We need to talk about it. Families need to sit down and talk about it. I have a rule when I meet my family that we never say "remember when". My memory of "when " and theirs very often differ.

I support Senator Michael McDowell. It is high time these provisions were brought forward in the House. I hope both it and the Minister of State will support the Bill and it being brought into law. Families deserve and need this certainty in the context of what is a very high cost alternative. I am glad that Senator Michael McDowell is the man who has brought the issue into focus.