A chara, – Paul Browne (March 26th) is correct in pointing out that there have indeed been times when the Property Registration Authority has made a profit, three fiscal years, in fact, but I am afraid I do not follow his logic is saying that it is not practical for the Property Registration Authority to create a property register.
With only days left before the deadline, the creation of a property register by getting property owners to register online seems to be a largely failed enterprise. One solution put forward by Government ministers in the event of the online method failing to produce an adequate register was to produce one from the records of utility providers, with a change to data protection legislation if necessary.
However, such records could not be used to produce a nearly comprehensive enough property register, because the billpayer is often not the property owner and the title owner may not be the bill-payer even if the person are resident at that address. The Government would have grave trouble attempting to fine or prosecute 1,000,000 individuals known only as “The Householder”.
On the other hand, the PRA has inherited records of land ownership dating back to 1707: they were some of the few government records not stored, and thus destroyed, in the Four Courts in 1922. Nearly all property transactions today are registered and over 90 per cent of property in Ireland is registered with the PRA. It would appear to be an excellent source from which to create a property register, though there are obviously specific reasons why this is not being considered.
The question is why not, and why has years of investment – and sometimes profit – failed to create systems in the PRA which would allow easy government access to the data stored on its behalf? – Is mise,