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GAZETTE
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1991
Meeting with Land
Registry
MEMOR A NDUM OF MEET ING
wh i ch t ook place at Law Society
headquarters on Thursday t he
2 7 t h September 1990.
At t endance:
Ms. Catherine Treacy,
Registrar of Deeds and Titles.
Ms. Maeve Hayes, Chairman
of the Conveyancing Committee.
Mr. William Fallon.
Mr. Thomas D. Shaw.
Mr. J J Ivers.
This meeting was a follow-up
meeting to the previous meeting
which had taken place on the 31st
May 1990.
The Registrar reported on the up
to date position as follows:
(1) Substantial progress had been
made and was continuing in the
Filed Plan area. The new form for
bespeaking folio and filed plan had
been introduced. • The Registrar
pointed out the importance of filling
up the new application form cor-
rectly which was still not being
done in a number of cases. The
initial target which had been set by
the Registrar was that 80% of File
Plans would issue within a week of
being bespoken. The following
figures reflect the up to date
situation:
44% of File Plans are issued
immediately, (i.e. over the
counter or the next day).
24% issue within 10 days.
13% issue within 3-4 weeks.
19% take four weeks + .
In the 19% to 20% of requisi-
tions which necessitate a map
reconstruction element, it was still
difficult to give a definite time
turnover. Sixty eight per cent of
requisitions therefore are being
dealt with within a 10 day period,
a not insignificant achievement,
and efforts are continuing to
improve the situation yet further.
(2) Price Waterhouse had been
appointed as consultants and
would be reporting to her in
November. Mr. Shaw confirmed
that the Committee had earlier that
morning met Price Waterhouse and
had conveyed their views on the
aspects on which they had re-
quested views and information.
(3) The Registrar advised that the
first step of the computerisation of
the Registry of Deeds was com-
pleted and would be opened by the
Minister on the following day.
(4) The Registrar further advised
that they had made substantial
progress to clear the arrears in the
Dublin Region. Dublin accounted for
almost one quarter of the entire
intake of dealings and her estimate
was that they were approximately
half way towards clearing the "set-
ting up of dealings" arrears. Efforts
were now being concentrated on the
"transfer of part" arrears in this
Region. With the sustained co-
operation from the staff involved, the
Registrar was hopeful of continuing
improvement. The Registrar stressed
the enormous goodwill and co-
operation which she had received
from the staff in achieving this target
and in bringing about the improving
situation in the File Plan area.
(5) The Land Registry programme
had been set back by staff transfers
over which she had no control. She
stressed the difficulties which were
created when trained staff were
moved to other areas and
departments.
(6) The Registrar expressed the
view that it was difficult to handle
the arrears as distinct from current
intake with the staff which was
allotted to her. Regular contact was
made with the departments in-
volved and the Registrar stressed
that the departments were helpful
within the constraints of recruit-
ment of extra staff. A number of
staff had been assigned to the
Registries in recent times.
(7) On the question of possible
financial constraints, the Registrar
pointed out that on the occasions
since she took up office, she had
made a case for expenditure on the
Registries to cover the Consultancy
Report and the Data Capture of the
Abstracts in the Registry of Deeds.
The Department of Finance had
agreed with the cases made by her
and had acted in a very expeditious
manner in finalising arrangements
for such expenditure.
(8) Delays in the registration of
deeds wére approximately eight to
nine weeks. The principal delays
were in the comparison department
and she again stressed that the
quality of the preparation of
memorials was not good and that
32% were rejected.
A discussion took place and the
Committee welcomed the proposal
of the Registrar to introduce new
forms wh i ch would give the
essential material required for a
memorial and which would be print-
ed on paper which would be
acceptable to the Registry. The Law
Society indicated that they would
print the forms and sell them to the
members if they got the required
specification.
The Solicitors would then have
the option of word processing
memorials on the
thin
paper which
would then have to be placed in a
plastic cover or alternatively com-
pleting the required form which
they could purchase from the Law
Society which would not have to be
placed in the cover.
The Registrar also agreed to get
out a specimen list of the mem-
orials to be sent to the Law Society
together with a list of the common
mistakes which were made.
A general discussion took place
on how the arrears could be
tackled. The Registrar indicated she
was prepared to look at all
suggestions but again stressed that
it was vitally important that
Solicitors would complete the
documentation correctly in the first
instance. In this connection, she
was preparing a list of the com-
monest faults on the preparation of
documents to be circulated to the
Society and the Committee would
then consider that this and other
necessary information should be
circularised to the members.
The Committee expressed con-
fidence and support for the
Registrar in her work and indicated
that if she needed any help or
assistance that she should contact
us which would be more than
willingly available.
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