Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 186: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his plans to introduce legislation to create a central registrar of wills similar to the one that exists in the UK; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41194/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The position is that the views of the Law Society on the desirability of establishing a registration of wills system were sought in 2005. The Society's Probate, Administration and Trusts Committee subsequently informed my Department that it did not favour the establishment of such a system for a number of reasons. Firstly, since registration would be voluntary, there might be very limited demand for and usage of such a service. Secondly, even if a will was registered, such registration would not in itself guarantee the validity of the will if the statutory requirements in relation to signature, witnesses etc. had not been complied with, or if the will had been made under conditions of duress or undue influence. Moreover, there could be no guarantee that a registered will was in fact the final will of the testator concerned.

In light of the Law Society's views, I consider that any initiative to establish a system for registering wills without the full support and involvement of the legal profession would not be successful.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 187: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on the introduction of a new dedicated official registrar of deeds of property to ensure that the transfer of deeds held by solicitors and financial institutions are tracked when a mortgage is paid off; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41195/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I can inform the Deputy that one of the principal functions of the Property Registration Authority, which has been established under the Registration of Deeds and Title Act 2006, is to manage and control the Registry of Deeds and the Land Registry.

In the case of registered land, ownership of the land is recorded in registers in the Land Registry and property deeds are retained in the Registry. Earlier this year, the Property Registration Authority launched an electronic system to register the discharge of mortgages in respect of registered land. This system is more secure than the previous paper-based system and has reduced costs and speeded up the discharge process.

In the case of unregistered land, details of transactions involving the land may be recorded in the Registry of Deeds but the owner retains the title deeds as proof of ownership. Where unregistered land is mortgaged, the title deeds are generally retained by the relevant financial institution for the duration of the mortgage. On redemption of the mortgage, the title deeds are returned to the owner who retains them as proof of ownership of the land.

It is possible for the owners of unregistered land to register the title to the property in the Land Registry. This procedure is known as a voluntary first registration. Ownership of the land will then be recorded in the Land Registry's registers and the property deeds will be retained in the Registry.