The Gazette 1989

GAZETTE

DECEMBER 1989

Lawbrief

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."

" . . . 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

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

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

"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

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