§ MR. M'CARTANI beg to ask the Attorney General for Ireland whether he is aware that the Central Office for the Registration of Title, under The Local Registration of Title (Ireland) Act, 1891, passed in August last, did not open for business until the 1st April, although the Act came into operation on the 1st January last; if he will explain the cause of this delay; whether he will state the number of vesting orders now awaiting registration, and if only one mapper has been provided who cannot well complete more than two or three maps per diem, notwithstanding the vast number of orders awaiting registration; and will the Treasury make arrangements to provide an extra staff until the accumulation has been disposed of?
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. MADDEN,) Dublin UniversityI have been informed by the Registrar that the Office for the Registration of Title was opened on the 1st January, 1892, as required by the Act, but that he was not in a position to complete the registry of estates until about the 1st April, as he had not the means of making the maps required 151 by the Act until then. The question of additional assistance for mapping purposes is how under the consideration of the Treasury. There are now 1,255 vesting orders awaiting registration. Only two of those cases are in the Registry Office. The remainder have not left the Land Commission. I sincerely hope that the necessary assistance will shortly be afforded to the Office, in order that this large number of applications may speedily be brought under the provisions of the Act.