Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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92. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the reason the Registry of Deeds at Henrietta Street maintain a strict policy of no digital photos, which is contrary to the policy of the National Archives, the National Library, most universities and county council archives; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13733/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I can inform the Deputy that the Registry of Deeds is managed and controlled by the Property Registration Authority. Under Section 9(3) of the Registration of Deeds and Title Act 2006, the Authority is independent in the performance of its functions. The records held by the Registry of Deeds are public records. Certified copies of Memorial/ROD Application Forms filed in the Registry of Deeds can be obtained on payment of the relevant fee. The fee for every certified copy of a memorial or application is €20. The fee for a plain copy of microfilm of a memorial or application is €1.00 per page.

In addition, the facility for on-line searching in the Registry of Deeds is available to all "landdirect.ie" business account holders. All such records dating from January 1970 have been digitised and users are now able to search records on-line from 1970 to date and can also order Official Searches and Copy Memorials/Application Forms on-line. (Non-account holders may access these records at the Public Office in the Registry of Deeds.)

I am advised that in 2012 the Authority gave consideration to the use of digital photography for persons accessing copies of Registry of Deeds records. However, records in the Registry of Deeds date back to 1707 and can be fragile, requiring very careful handling and, occasionally, supervised access. As part of the review, the Authority considered all aspects including the potential social and business re-use of the records in the light of its available resources. The Authority decided to maintain its current policy due to operational reasons, i.e. the scale of resources that would be required operationally to supervise access to the records and in addition, the risk of potential damage and wear and tear of the record books. I am advised that the Property Registration Authority has no current plans to change the “no photography” policy in the Registry of Deeds as access to the records is through the Registration of Deeds Rules 2009-2013, subject to the fees as set out in the Registry of Deeds (Fees Order) 2008.