Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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333. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government where fallen trees impede access on public roads and/or damage ESB transmission lines and telecom provider lines on public roads or on private property and where the ownership of such property is not readily known to the local community or to the local authority or emergency services, if there is provision to provide statutory agencies or public utility providers with the names of the owners of such property to ensure that they can be requested, without delay, to remedy the difficulties that have arisen or to bill them for emergency work that may need to be carried out by or on behalf of statutory agencies or public utilities (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12968/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Tailte Éireann is an independent Government agency under the aegis of my Department. Tailte Éireann provide a property registration system, property valuation service, and national mapping and surveying infrastructure for the State. Under Section 8(6) of the Tailte Éireann Act 2022, Tailte Éireann is independent in the performance of its functions.

As I understand it, Section 70 of the Roads Act 1993 sets out the responsibility of landowners to take all reasonable steps to ensure that trees, hedges and other vegetation growing on their land are not, or could not become, a danger to people using a public road or interfere with the safe use of a public road or the maintenance of a public road. As such, the implementation of the legislation and the management of the removal of trees is a matter for local authorities and landowners.

With regard to ownership, Tailte Éireann provide a registration of title service for the State and maintain the Land Register detailing ownership of registered property.

Registration of land is compulsory under the conditions set out in Section 23 (www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1964/act/16/section/23) of the Registration of Title Act, 1964. Over 90% of the total land mass of the State and the legal titles in Ireland are now registered in the Land Registry.

Any person may access the interactive search features on landdirect.ie to identify property on the map to determine whether the land has been registered on the Land Register and obtain details of the relevant folio number.

Where the title, or ownership, of property has been registered, the registered owner details are entered on folios which form the Land Register. The Irish Land Register is a public record, and any person may inspect the folios and maps on payment of the prescribed fees. Provisions have been put in place for certain Government departments to access the details of the Land Register through Landdirect.ie at no cost to the exchequer.

Where a property has not been previously registered on the Land Register, the ownership details would not be available. A search of the Registry of Deeds would be required. A search by property address, where the grantor name is not known, may result in identifying persons with an interest in the lands if the deeds related to the property have been lodged for notation in the Registry of Deeds.

Finally, Oireachtas Members may obtain information in relation to specific cases by contacting the dedicated e-mail address in respect of Tailte Éireann at oireachtas@tailte.ie.