Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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310. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the details of the proposed merger and relocation of the State agencies (details supplied) to his Department. [6256/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The Government’s Public Service Reform Plan included a proposal to merge the Valuation Office, Ordnance Survey Ireland and the Property Registration Authority to provide an opportunity for more efficient and effective delivery of land, spatial data and property administration services in Ireland.

One of the key milestones of the merger project centres around progressing the statutory basis for the new body and in January 2015 the Government approved the General Scheme of the Tailte Éireann Bill.

In July 2017 the Taoiseach announced the transfer of functions for the oversight of these bodies and the related merger project from the Department of Justice and Equality to my Department. In December 2017 the relevant Ministerial Transfer Orders, which took effect from 1 January this year, were made.

The task of merging these bodies into a single entity is a challenging project. I welcome the previous work undertaken by the Department of Justice and Equality in progressing the Tailte Eireann Bill. My Department will continue working with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to finalise the Bill, with a view to its publication later this year.

In the meantime, the administrative arrangements associated with the merger will continue to be progressed.