Willie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 135: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he or the Registrar of Titles obtained or caused to be obtained any legal opinion regarding the entitlement of the Registrar of Titles to change the Land Registry rules or regarding the interpretation of section 105 of the Registration of Titles Act 1964; if so, if he will furnish any legal opinion so obtained; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20506/05]

Willie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 136: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if it has been asserted or claimed by him or the Registrar of Titles that the general rules of the Land Registry or the Registration of Title Act 1964, or any section thereof or any previous or subsequent Acts of the Oireachtas, have been changed, altered or amended to facilitate the practice of withholding land certificates as practised by the Land Registry office from September 2004; if so, if he has satisfied himself with this process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20510/05]

Willie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 137: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he or the Registrar of Titles accepts that a land certificate when issued is in the ownership of the registered owner or the person entitled to be registered as owner; if so, the rule of the Land Registry office or by the statute or ministerial order by which it is claimed that the Registrar of Titles has the legal right or the constitutional right to cancel a land certificate without the permission or consent of the registered owner or the person entitled to be registered as owner in the absence of a court order; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20511/05]

Willie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 138: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 228, 229 and 230 of 27 April 2005, if his attention has been drawn, by the Registrar of the Land Registry office to the proposed change by the Registrar of Titles that from September 2004, land certificates will be retained by the Registrar of Titles and cancelled when there has been a change of ownership; if so, the date on and the manner and means by which his attention was drawn to this change; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20512/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 135 to 138, inclusive, together.

In my previous response to the Deputy on this issue on 27 April 2005, I set out in some detail the background to the change in land registry practice referred to. My response of that date set out the legal basis for the change in practice as well as consultative process which preceded it and the steps taken to disseminate information regarding the matter to all interested parties. I am further informed that the change of practice has the full support of the law society's conveyancing committee. The Deputy should note that no changes have been made to either the land registration rules or the Registration of Title Act 1964 as part of this process.

Under the Registration of Title Act, the Registrar of Titles is responsible for the management and control of the Land Registry and the changes in question fall within the scope of her ongoing management remit.