Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Seller’s Legal Pack for Property Buyers Bill 2021, which is a Private Member’s Bill, passed second stage in Dáil Éireann on October 5th last year. I welcomed the Bill’s objectives of improving efficiency and reducing the costs involved in buying and selling property.

However, I also outlined a number of practical and legal issues identified in the Bill. I therefore recommended that, before the Bill proceeds to Committee Stage, the sponsoring Deputy would give consideration to the issues identified, in conjunction with the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, and would consult further with relevant stakeholders. These steps are necessary to ensure that the Bill's potential objective could be realised effectively.

In addition, I can advise the Deputy that the Taoiseach recently established a Working Group on Conveyancing and Probate to carry out a review of current conveyancing and probate processes and identify scope for greater efficiency and streamlining. As part of its work the Working Group will consider the type of reforms included in the Seller’s Legal Pack for Property Buyers Bill 2021. It is envisaged that this Group will report with its recommendations by the Summer, and I along with Ministerial colleagues, look forward to that report.