§ Mr. PATRICK O'BRIENasked the Chief Secretary whether he can state how long it takes to discharge equities in the 829W Registration of Titles Office; how long it takes to register a transfer of mortgages; how many cases were registered last year; how many are pending registration and discharge of equities, respectively; and when it is expected that these cases will be finished; whether he is aware that dissatisfaction is felt with the delays in the Registration Office in dealing with Irish business; whether he can give the numbers of the staffs engaged on the registration work of all Ireland under the Registration of Titles Act; and, if it is found that the staff is insufficient to cope with the work in proper time, will he have it increased?
§ Mr. BIRRELLIt is not possible to give any general answer to the first two parts of the question. The discharge of equities, which with the other transactions referred to is carried out through the Land Registry, involves the examination of the titles of registered owners to the prior tenant interest, and the time required to complete this examination and to discharge the note as to equities varies according to the difficulty of the titles. In the case of transfers of mortgages, the necessary entries are completed within a few days of the lodgment of the papers, unless any exceptional difficulty arises. Moreover, the registration of all dealings with registered land, when completed, dates from the time of lodgment, and priorities are thus preserved. For particulars of the number of titles registered last year, I must ask the hon. Member to await the publication of the Judicial Statistics, Ireland, for 1914, which, it is expected, will shortly be presented to Parliament. The figures for 1913 will be found in Command Paper 7536. Several thousand titles are at present awaiting first registration, and pending applications to discharge equities number about two hundred. While for the reasons already given it cannot be stated when these will be finally dealt with, I have no reason to believe that any avoidable delay arises, and I am not aware of any general dissatisfaction in the matter. The number of persons employed in the central office of the Land Registry varies from time to time and is now about 160. The numbers employed by the local registrars could be ascertained only by reference to the local offices. No increase to the existing staff is contemplated.