John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality notwithstanding either the provisions contained in Part III of the Landlord and Tenant (Grounds Rents) (No. 2) Act 1978 which contains a statutory scheme whereby the fee simple interest in lands upon which a dwelling is constructed may be purchased by the property owner, or the abandoned 1997 Fianna Fáil PMM - the Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rent Abolition) Bill which at the time received the support of Dáil Éireann and was referred to the Select Committee on Equality and Law Reform, his plans to bring forward further legislation to entirely abolish the requirement to pay these ground rents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42717/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The position is that section 2 of the Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) Act 1978 introduced a prohibition on the creation of new leases reserving ground rents on dwellings. As regards existing ground rents, as the Deputy is aware, Part III of the Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) (No.2) Act 1978 contains a statutory scheme whereby a person may, at reasonable cost, acquire the fee simple in their dwelling. To date, over 80,000 applicants have acquired freehold title to their property under this scheme. In the case of property other than dwellings, the Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) Act 1967 contains provisions which facilitate acquisition of the fee simple subject to agreed terms or on terms set out in an arbitration carried out by the County Registrar.

As regards the possibility of future legislation, the position is that abolition of ground rents was considered by the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution in their 2004 Report 'Private Property'. The Committee took the view that a ground landlord's ground rent is a form of property right which is constitutionally protected and that abolition of such rents would be unconstitutional in the absence of adequate monetary compensation. The Committee also noted in this regard that where leases were approaching expiry, any further legislation providing for the abolition of ground rents would have to provide for the payment of enhanced compensation by the ground tenant. In light of the foregoing, I have no immediate plans to introduce further legislation in this area. Operation of the existing law will, however, be kept under review by my Department.