The Gazette 1989

GAZETTE

DECEMBER 1989

later, only three counties - Carlow, Laois and Meath - have been brought within the ambit of the compulsory registration provisions of the Act. " . . . staff morale is one of helpless frustration." Sixtly, I want to touch on the position of the management and staff of the registry all of whom, from my experience initially as a lawyer and latterly as a politician, have shown unfailing courtesy. Because of the present position in the registry, the operation of that system has been described to me as "crisis management of the worst order" while, needless to say, staff morale is one of helpless frustration. Seventhly, the Act provides that the registry, and I quote from the 1964 Act, "shall be under the control and management of an officer who shall be called the Registrar of Titles who shall be appointed by the Government". The wo rd " s h a l l " is very interesting. Why? A year ago the registrar retired but what has happened since? Nothing. Why has no appointment been made by the Government? This matter has been raised a number of times with the Government but no explanation has been given for this failure. . . . From speaking to solicitors I am aware that High Court man- damus proceedings are being pre- pared because of their inability to register their clients' titles. "The proposal . . . to establish a semi-State corporation has the approval of the Incorporated Law Society." . . . Furthermore, the Minister will have to take account of the fact that the registry do not charge fees for Government or ACC work at present. One would balance out the other. The main point I am making is that the problem is not one of finance/Under the new structures which I propose I do not envisage any difficulty about finances. There is also the possibility of a con- siderable increase in the level of income if an efficient service were

Lawbrief

" . . . the entire system is on the verge of collapse." It is very clear that the system of registration of title is breaking down. The Land Registry was established about 100 years ago by the Registration of Title Act, 1891, which now operates under the 1964 Act. The then Minister for Justice, Deputy Charles J. Haughey, in introducing that Bill stated that the system of registra- tion provided provided for in the 1964 Bill was intended to be cheap, simple and effective. Twenty five years later it is clear that the Land Registry measures up to none of these criteria. In fact, the entire system is on the verge of collapse. This has frightening implications for anybody who owns a house, farm, shop or plot of ground where the title is registered in the Land Registry. [The Land Registry] is failing utterly to provide any reasonable standard of service for its cus- tomers and the general public. . . . Firstly, additional arrears are accumulating by the day. At the end of 1988 the overall arrears in transactions totalled 32,000. This figure has increased every month since January and reached a total of 49,000 at the end of October. In fact 12,000 dealings which had been lodged in the last couple of mon t hs have not even been accepted and numbered within the system. Secondly, it can now take up to 20-24 months to register a plot of ground in the Land Registry and up to six months simply to obtain a land certificate proving ownership of property. Thirdly, this is a system which obviously lends itself to computerisation. A fair amount of progress was made in the early part of this decade but this has now ground to a halt. The computer expert in the registry resigned at the end of last month. . . . Fourthly, I have to refer to the position of maps in the registry. All the advice I have received is that these maps are deteriorating rapidly. Fifthly, the 1964 Act envisaged compulsory registration of all the property in the State. That was one of the basic rationales behind the 1964 Act. What is the present position? To date, 25 years

Edited by: Eamonn G. Hall, Solicitor.

Committee to examine legal procedures in the wake of the Guilford Four case Dail Eireann was told on November 29, 1989 that the members of the committee are Judge Frank Martin, chairman; Mr. Edwin Alkin, Attor- ney General's Office, Mr. Henry Abbott, barrister-at-law; Mr. Frank Ward, solicitor; Mr. Hugh Sreenan, assistant commissioner, Garda Siochana; Mr. Patrick Terry, Depart- ment of Justice; Mr. Paul Murray, Department of Justice (committee secretary). Its terms of reference are: "(1) - To examine whether there is need for a procedure whereby persons who have been convicted of criminal offences and who have exhausted the normal appeals procedures can have their cases further reviewed and, if so, to make recommendations as to what procedure should be provided and in what circumstances it should apply, and "(2) - Given that uncorrobor- ated inculpatory admissions made by an accused to the Garda Siochana can be sufficient, to examine whether additional safe- guards are needed to ensure that such admissions are properly obtained and recorded and to make recommendations accordingly." Land Registry: Dáil Motion, November 14 and 15, 1989 Mr. J. O'Keeffe: I move: "That Dáil Éireann deplores the enormous delays and the deterior- ating position in the Land Registry and calls for its establishment as an efficient business orientated semi- State Corporation."

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