THE Government has accepted in principle a Fianna Fail Bill to abolish ground rents. The Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, said, however, she would be bringing forward proposals to change aspects of the Bill to ensure that tenants are not left worse off.

Under the Bill, a day would be appointed by the Minister for Equality and Law Reform for granting freehold titles to all ground rent payers.

Ground landlords would be entitled to compensation by creating a charge or mortgage on the new freehold on terms similar to existing legislation.

The Bill was introduced by the Fianna Fail spokesman on equality and law reform, Dr Michael Woods, who said about 65,000 householders had bought out their ground rents under legislation introduced by his party in 1967 and 1978, but there were still about 250,000 houses to which rents applied.

"The time is now ripe for the historic reform of home ownership by the final abolition of these rents," he said. "They are a relic of feudal times and have no place in the new millennium.

Some 300 to 400 householders were dragged through the courts annually for non payment. Some 16,300 residents had been taken to court since 1974. "To our shame as a nation, 200 families were given sentences and five were actually incarcerated in jail for their resistance to this feudal legacy of our past."

Where a local authority was involved, the Bill provided that a transfer document would become the householder's freehold certificate.

For leases which had expired or had less than 20 years to run, the householder would be entitled to a freehold interest without having to pay a portion of the value of the house, as was required at present.

A scheme of arbitration would be put in place to deal with disagreements over the amount of compensation.

Mrs Owen said aspects of the Bill could worsen the position of tenants. Under the existing laws a person had a right to buy out a ground rent. "This Bill would replace that right with an obligation."

The multiplier used under existing legislation was 13 times the annual rent. She was having the issue examined and would bring forward proposals to make a genuine improvement in the position of ground rent tenants.

She asked Dr Woods to reconsider the approach taken in the Bill which would enable a landlord to force a tenant to buy out a ground rent.

There must be doubts about the constitutionality of the proposal in terms of the rights of the tenant. It would impose a legally enforceable obligation to pay 13 times the annual ground rent all at once. This proposal might also be unconstitutional from the landlord's side because it did not provide for interest on the compensation charge proposed.

"People will have to accept that it is not open to this House to introduce legislation which simply make ground rents disappear into thin air." Improvements' were possible but constraints did apply.

The second stage was agreed and the Bill was referred to a Dail committee.