The combined speeches of the proposer and seconder shall be 16 minutes, and all other Senators shall have six minutes.

I move:

“That Seanad Éireann:

acknowledges that:

- the Seller’s Legal Pack for Property Buyers Bill 2021 was originally introduced by the then Independent TD, Marc MacSharry;

- the Bill was designed to front-load the property conveyancing process and reduce transaction times for property purchases, reduce wasted costs associated with delays or sales falling through, and to allow for more certain and transparent transactions for both the consumer and the seller when a property is being bought and sold;

- the Institute of Professional Auctioneers & Valuers (IPAV) Conveyancing Survey Results 2020 revealed that 81 per cent of property service providers are either frustrated or very frustrated by the delays caused by the current conveyancing process, according to the survey results, some 79 per cent of auctioneers who are experiencing conveyancing delays from the time the property has gone 'sale agreed’ to when the sale has closed;

- in 2021, IPAV was campaigning to find new and cost-effective ways to speed up the conveyancing of property – the legal process in transferring property title;

- an IPAV Conveyancing Survey 2023 showed 97 per cent support for the Seller’s Legal Pack (SLP) among IPAV members, with delays still prevalent despite previous voluntary reforms to the conveyancing process; Ireland Thinks Survey 2023 indicated 77 per cent consumer support for the SLP, with significant backing from young adults, and 73 per cent of respondents saying that the conveyancing process caused problems for them when purchasing a house;

- an IPAV Member Survey 2024 found 32 per cent of properties on the market have issues to be resolved (i.e. issue with deeds, boundary issues and other matters) and these properties should not be on the market until they are saleable;

- the figure from all four surveys highlight the need for a radical change in the conveyancing and house purchasing process, to make it more accessible and easier to navigate for consumers;

- the surveys also found that the average number of weeks it takes from when a property is ‘sale agreed’ to when contracts are signed is ten, and it takes six weeks from the signing of the sales contracts to the date the sale closes;

- in 2021, the IPAV, as the representative body responsible for standards in the property sales industry, took the view that the SLP would substantially reduce the delays incurred in the current sales process which they consider to be unaligned, rife with uncertainty and which present legal risks to the vendor;

- the SLP would result in the following benefits:

- reducing the number of property sales which fall through;

- cutting down the conveyancing timeframe that encourages gazumping or gazundering to take place;

- streamlining the conveyancing process to align with public and online property auctions;

- allowing for the filtering of properties prior to sale to confirm saleability;

- reducing the potential liability for the seller/vendor;

- reducing conveyancing times as the larger part of the process would now be front loaded;

- there would also be additional non-monetary benefits, including but not limited to:

- increased transparency;

- greater certainty;

- reduced transaction times; and

- reduced stress in the purchase of a property;

- the pack would make issues arising from non-refundable costs such as surveys, legal bills and mortgage valuations, should the deal fall through due to lack of important information up front, all easier to resolve;

- when a seller places their property on the market, an SLP would be compiled and advertised with the property, which can then be sent to potential buyers;

- the ultimate objective of the SLP is to influence the development of a sustainable property market where people can buy or sell properties in a cost-effective manner with reduced delays;

notes that:

- the Seller’s Legal Pack for Property Buyers Bill 2021 draws upon similar initiatives in the UK, notably the Home Information Packs (HIPs); evidence from the UK suggests that 87 per cent of property practitioners believe HIPs would succeed if implemented today due to their positive impact on the housing market and the increased consumer confidence they provided;

- the Seller’s Legal Pack Bill aligns with these findings by frontloading the property sales process, similar to HIPs; this would reduce delays caused by back-and-forth communication between solicitors, prevent transactions from falling through due to expired loan offers, and eliminate speculative listings, by providing all necessary documentation upfront, as the Bill ensures transparency and certainty, thus building buyer confidence and encouraging more efficient property transactions;

- there were concerns regarding the original Bill which were listed in the Report on Detailed Scrutiny of the Seller’s Legal Pack for Property Buyers Bill 2021;

- the Law Society of Ireland made a submission on the Seller’s Legal Pack for Property Buyers Bill 2021 in 2024, and the IPAV also made a submission in the same year;

- when a seller places their property on the market, this legislation would direct that a SLP is compiled and is advertised with the property; the SLP can then be sent to potential buyers, and it is expected the SLP would add no further cost to the general expenses associated with the sales process, as the fee would include all potential queries that might be raised by the vendor, purchaser and legal representatives throughout the conveyancing process;

calls on the Government to:

- address the issues outlined in the Report on Detailed Scrutiny of the Seller’s Legal Pack for Property Buyers Bill 2021;

- address the concerns about the conveyancing raised by the IPAV and the Law Society of Ireland in their submissions;

- liaise with the IPAV regarding how a new updated version of the Seller’s Legal Pack could be made possible;

- bring forward an updated version of the Bill which will implement all the benefits of the original 2021 Bill within the lifetime of the Government; and

- introduce a Bill or multiple Bills so that it is possible to avail of as many of the benefits of the SLP as possible, if it is not possible to address all of the issues outlined in the report and submissions.”

I second the motion.

Before I call Senator McCarthy, I welcome former Senator, Lorraine Higgins to the Gallery. She is most welcome. I also welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins.

I thank the Minister of State for being here. I also acknowledge former Senator, Lorraine Higgins and the members of the Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers, IPAV, including its CEO, Ms Genevieve McGuirk.

The reason I am bringing this up is, as many Members will know, I am involved in housing and homelessness and I see blockages. I am a member of the housing committee and I am involved in an approved housing body, AHB. Day to day, I constantly see people queuing to try to buy houses and there are blockages all the way. The motion I am putting forward goes to the very heart of how people in Ireland are experiencing the housing system, not just in theory but in their everyday lives and lived experience. Whether buying or selling a home, it is clear it is unnecessarily stressful, uncertain and costing a lot of money.

Housing accessibility is what this motion is all about. That is what it aims to facilitate. The proposal talks about establishing a statutory procedure whereby, when a seller of a property places the property on the market, a set of legal documents - the seller’s legal pack - will be compiled and advertised with the property and made available to potential buyers. Such documents will ensure that buyers have all the key information relating to the property and the conveyancing process is more efficient than it presently is.

By way of background, the seller’s legal pack was put forward previously. It was devised and championed by Pat Davitt, former CEO of IPAV, after many years of complaints and research from both property people and consumers alike. Those concerns over the years are well founded. The conveyancing process in Ireland has become inefficient, onerous and, in many cases, detrimental to people trying to buy or sell a home. What should be a straightforward transaction is often characterised by unavoidable delay. With the original Bill, IPAV sought to address these conveyancing issues and delays as a matter of legislative urgency. Those delays are now part and parcel of our housing market. They are contributing to property sales often falling through at a time of a severe housing crisis.

On average, it takes four months from the point a property is placed on the market to when the transaction finally closes and the person gets the keys. That period of uncertainty drives up costs, undermines confidence in the market and places enormous emotional strain on buyers and sellers alike. For most people, buying a home is possibly the biggest financial decision they will ever make. Far too often, after a property goes sale agreed, families are left in limbo. They are paying for all the surveys, evaluations and legal advice, etc., only to discover that late in the process there are unresolved issues such as issues with the deed, boundaries, etc., or maybe planning. That is not just inefficient; it is unfair.

I will provide an example. As an approved housing body, we were working on an apartment recently - I spoke about this at the housing committee today – and it took us eight months because all the paperwork was not in place. I spoke to one of my constituents, Keith. He is a wonderful guy from Greystones and he allowed me to use his example. Like so many people his age, he did everything he was told to do. He saved up and worked hard and, eventually, he went sale agreed on what he hoped would be his first home. He paid for the survey, evaluation and legal fees. He planned his whole life around this purchase. Weeks later, after all of that - let us remember that the mortgage had been approved and it had an expiry date - a title issue emerged. This title issue had existed long before the property ever went on sale and the sale collapsed and his loan offer expired. His outlay, savings and plans were badly hit. He was back at square one, still renting and paying sky-high prices. That is on top of carrying the emotional weight of his plans all going down the toilet when they should never have progressed as far as they did in the first place. The experience was not caused by recklessness or bad behaviour. Rather, it was caused by a system that withholds critical legal information from the purchaser, leaving people already financially and emotionally committed only for it all to fall apart. The seller’s legal pack would have saved Keith and his family time and money. It would have spared him months of stress and uncertainty at one of the most important times of his life.

We know his story is not isolated. Reporting in the national media highlights the emotional toll that the Irish home-buying process imposes on ordinary families. A feature recently in The Irish Times described how many people feel when buying a home, which is a process filled with frustration, uncertainty and endless back and forth, that they are fighting a mental war.

Their hope too often gives way to anxiety and then the offers, bids and timelines drag on without clarity. That is the lived reality of people trying to build stability for themselves and their families. What the seller's legal pack does is exactly what it says on the tin. It creates a statutory requirement for a pack to be made available when a property is marketable and placed on the market. If we front-load the conveyancing process and confirm the saleability of a property at the outset, transaction times should reduce by up to 50%. That would streamline costs, prevent gazumping and deliver greater certainty and transparency for the likes of Keith without imposing any additional costs on him or the seller. The seller's legal pack would reform the property sales process by allowing private sales to be treated exactly as they are doing with online sales where legal documentation is uploaded upfront and buyers know where they stand. It would therefore significantly reduce the likelihood of sales falling through due to delays or dues to loan approvals expiring, which is the reality that many families face.

International experience has also shown that this works in many other jurisdictions. Previous opportunities to address conveyancing delays in Ireland were well-intentioned but did not succeed. The voluntary pre-contract investigation of title, PCIT, did not deliver the change required even though it was launched with such fanfare. For over ten years, agents have guided vendors in line with proposals from the conveyancing and probate implementation group's best practice charter for solicitors and agents. That document itself has no teeth and is not making a difference. As a result, delays persist, imposing unnecessary costs and uncertainty on consumers. The seller's legal pack improves upon these voluntary approaches and is designed to work for conveyancers, solicitors, auctioneers and consumers alike.

The Housing For All conveyancing and probate implementation group drew on evidence from the Legal Services Regulatory Authority, LSRA, and they confirmed that Irish buyers are now facing longer timelines and higher costs than buyers from other jurisdictions. The group recommended an eight-week conveyancing target. That is easily accessible if upfront information is put with the property before it is marketed. That also reflects the programme for Government. Despite all of these well-intentioned negotiations, meaningful reform has not been delivered. The establishment of the expert group on conveyancing and probate nearly two years ago offered a real opportunity to address these issues. While there has been some progress in the probate aspect of it, no measures introduced today have materially reduced conveyancing delays. Measures such as the national e-conveyancing system, or any digital system, will only be as effective as the documentation that it requires from the outset. Again, if we do not front-load the conveyancing process, digitalisation alone will not shorten house purchasing timelines.

From IPAV's perspective, two simple issues remain. The first is the absence of mandatory standardised upfront legal documentation. The second is the lack of agreed communication timelines between the solicitor and the property service provider. Even the Law Society's own research shows that sales can take anywhere from six months to several years to complete. My own experience last year was that we bought a place in May and it closed in December.

In July 2025, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, raised concerns about the lack of the upfront information for home buyers. It specifically mentioned the seller's legal pack as a practical solution to that. The CCPC identified that ensuring the essential documents such as title deeds, BER certificates and planning and compliance, will short-circuit the process if they are available beforehand and it could reduce timelines from 17 weeks on average to eight weeks.

Support for this seller's pack is broad and it is genuine. It received cross-party engagement in the Thirty-third Dáil, including from the former Minister for Justice, Deputy Helen McEntee, who did not oppose it on Second Stage. It was supported by Opposition housing spokespersons and members of the Joint Committee on Justice. In July 2024, the committee completed detailed scrutiny and determined that the Bill should proceed to Committee Stage. It is also supported by leading property firms and by over 2,000 licensed agents across every county. This is nearly half of all the agents in the State. Public support is equally as strong. An Ireland Thinks survey found 77% of public support for this pack and it rises to 81% among younger adults, which is interesting. Of IPAV members, 97% report frustration with the current conveyancing delays and strongly endorsed this seller's pack. Housing accessibility, which I have always championed, is for consumers and they want this legislation. That is what this motion is trying to facilitate. It places the stated ambitions of the Government on a clear legislative footing and delivers practical, long overdue reform. It will reduce delays, reduce costs, and reduce stress for people.

In conclusion, the motion provides that the Government would: address the issues outlined in the report on detailed scrutiny of the Seller’s Legal Pack for Property Buyers Bill 2021; address the concerns about the conveyancing raised by IPAV and the Law Society of Ireland in their previous submission; liaise with IPAV regarding how a new and updated version of the seller's legal pack could be made possible; and bring forward an updated version of the Bill that will implement all the benefits of the original 2021 Bill within the timeline of the Government. If it is not possible to address all of the issues outlined in the report perhaps the Government would introduce a Bill or multiple Bills so that it is possible to avail of as many of the benefits as possible. I believe that this is achievable and is necessary to aid buyers and sellers. I have always said that when there is a blockage let us sit down and see how we can unblock it, so that is the proposal for this motion. I thank the Minister of State.

The Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, is welcome to the House. I think this is the first time I have addressed him since his elevation so I congratulate him on that.

We often speak in this House about the housing crisis. Today we are dealing with a part of that crisis that rarely makes headlines yet it affects every single person trying to buy or sell a home in this country. Our conveyancing system is not just slow; it is fundamentally failing the people it is supposed to serve. The evidence is not vague or anecdotal; it is overwhelming. Four separate surveys between 2020 and 2024 tell the same story. Professionals are frustrated, buyers are stressed, sales are collapsing and families are losing thousands of euro through absolutely no fault of their own. This is not a functioning system; this is a system in need of urgent reform. One third of properties going to the market have legal issues that should have been resolved beforehand, with ten weeks from sale agreed to contract signing, six more weeks to close, with mortgage offers expiring, and people paying for surveys, valuations and legal work on homes that were never sale-ready in the first place. This is not just inefficient; this is unfair. The seller's legal pack is a practical and proven solution. It front-loads the legal work so that only genuinely saleable properties reach the market. It cuts delays and reduces the number of failed sales. It protects buyers from unnecessary costs and it gives sellers clarity and confidence. This is not theory, as the UK experience shows it works. Let us be clear: the public wants this, the professionals want this, the evidence supports this and the only missing piece is political action. That is why this motion calls on the Government to do more than simply consider reform. It calls on the Government to address the issues raised in scrutiny to engage seriously with the IPAV and the Law Society, and bring forward an updated Bill within the lifetime of this Government. If one Bill cannot deliver all the benefits, then let us have multiple Bills. What matters is that we deliver change. People who are trying to buy homes in this country face obstacles and the conveyancing system should not be one of them. We have a clear path to a faster, fairer and more transparent process. The time for voluntary measures is over. The time for decisive legislative action is here and now. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit.

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after “That Seanad Éireann:”, and substitute the following:

“recalls that:

- a Housing for All Expert Group on Conveyancing and Probate was established in late 2023 to review the processes in Ireland and recommend changes to reduce costs and delays for home-purchasers;

- this group published its Final Report and Recommendations in July 2024;

- the associated Implementation Group was established in September 2024 to oversee the implementation of recommendations;

- it is independently chaired and comprises professionals, industry bodies (including the Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers (IPAV)) and government agencies to reduce the delays and costs associated with conveyancing and probate processes;

acknowledges that:

- the group is working towards a national target of an eight-week turnaround for conveyancing and has supported initiatives like the eProbate project and amendments to the Central Bank Consumer Protection Code to achieve these goals;

- that there has been significant progress achieved to date including:

- the creation of a public information pack (available online) to improve knowledge of the process, minimise delays and equip home-buyers with the information required to engage efficiently with professional conveyancing services;

- the provision of a Best Practice Charter, setting out principles of best practice for the main professions involved in the delivery of conveyancing services;

- an initial baseline survey run by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to gauge experience of consumers in conveyancing process;

- a revised Consumer Protection Code published by the Central Bank, requiring banks, retail credit firms and credit servicing firms to provide title deeds within ten working days of a request for the purposes of a conveyance;

- options to get more titles registered in the Land Registry more quickly and to expedite the registration of properties/transfer of deeds;

- the prioritisation of draft legislation to support increased use of Statements of Truth to replace certain hard copy affidavits or statutory declarations in the conveyancing process;

- greater efficiencies in response times for information requests from the various stakeholders;

- the development of a proposal for a national conveyancing system;

- the Courts Service roll-out of a reform programme to the probate process, which has already seen significant reduction in processing times, including the implementation of eProbate;

- the extensive work by the Expert Group and Implementation Group into identifying areas in conveyancing processes, where the lack of key information and certification/confirmation on a timely basis is causing delays and has instigated a regulatory process via both the Property Services Regulatory Authority and the Legal Services Regulatory Authority; this will directly address the necessity for early collection of categories of pre-sale information such as those identified in the Seller's Legal Pack for Property Buyers Bill 2021;

- in June of 2025, the Government agreed that the work of the Group will continue, to further progress the recommendations identified by the Expert Group and that this work remains ongoing;

resolves that:

- good progress has been made in respect of the work of the Interdepartmental Group, which is progressing many of the issues of concern and that the principles contained in the Seller's Legal Pack for Property Buyers Bill 2021 can initially be realised on a non-statutory footing;

- there are many advantages to this approach, notwithstanding the speed in which the measures can be progressed, as well as the in-built flexibility it provides in terms of quickly adjusting to any issues of concern arising;

- this work continues through the medium of the Interdepartmental Group to ensure measured improvements in the availability of pre-sale information and ensuring that the targeted eight-weeks conveyancing process is fully realised in Ireland.”

I acknowledge the presence of former colleague, former Senator Higgins, and the work that former colleague, Marc McSharry did on what has been proposed here this evening. All of that said, the Government has a counter-motion.

In December 2023, the expert group was established under the Housing for All action plan to review the conveyancing and the probate process in Ireland from a user perspective, and recommend changes to be implemented quickly and easily to reduce costs and delays for home purchasers. The group comprised a strong mix of legal, policymaking, operational and hands-on consumer experts, and they reported at the end of June 2024. The report of the expert group on conveyancing and probate was approved by the Government on 16 July 2024. The Government also approved the establishment of a new conveyancing and probate implementation group, tasked with beginning the implementation of short-term recommendations, as well as developing a detailed programme, including assigned ownership and committed timelines to implement the full set of recommendations. The group, comprised of an independent chair alongside key stakeholders including the IPAV, relevant Departments, agencies and statutory bodies, met for the first time on 23 September 2024 and has subsequently met on eight occasions. The group agreed that actions need to be taken to ensure that much more is done regarding the collection of information, necessary certification, title deeds, etc., early in the sale process, at its earliest point of engagement with the estate agent and the vendor's solicitor. The group concluded that several measures should be tried first before going down a legislative route, for example, stated obligations and-or professional regulatory measures to require solicitors and estate agents to alert sellers to the necessity for pre-sale preparation, including obtaining the necessary documentation and certification.

The implementation group has given further consideration to the types of issues that can either collapse or significantly delay a conveyancing process and concluded that efforts should be aimed at mechanisms to ensure a key essential baseline of information on properties for sale is collected at the pre-sale stage, there should be a means to prevent property from going to the market unless this information has been collected, and the three parties likely to have most control in ensuring the necessary information is collected are vendors, estate agents and vendors' solicitors. The group identified nine specific categories of pre-sale information that is not collected early in a conveyancing process and is more likely to cause delays beyond the target of the eight-week conveyancing process. Several options with varying degrees of enforceability were considered with a view to delivering better information at the earliest stage in a conveyancing process, legislation, regulation and best practice. Arising from these discussions it was agreed that the two relevant regulatory bodies, the Property Services Regulatory Authority, PSRA, and the LSRA, would be asked to embark on delivering regulatory codes of practice within the measures already provided in their respective governing legislation for the regulatory process. Other measures already completed included public awareness, a publication of a best practice charter and a number of other actions to reduce the key known delays in the provision of third party information. However, it is intended that this area be kept under review and, in particular, if an implementation of codes of practice approach does not result in efficiencies expected, alternative options will be visited in the future. I thank the Senators for bringing the motion forward.

Chomh maith leis na Seanadóirí eile, ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Collins. I do not have a huge amount to add to what Senator Rabbitte said. She summarised the Government's position. I second the counter-motion on the basis that it is premature at this point, pending the outcome of deliberations and feedback from the implementation group. We will proceed from that point. I second the counter-motion and reiterate the position of Senator Rabbitte.

I welcome the Aire Stáit to the House. I welcome this motion and the opportunity to talk to it. If someone is fortunate enough to be able to buy a home in today's market, we all agree that the process is far from fair and transparent. It is nice to hear that we are all aligned across the House that more needs to be done. For many buyers the process is stressful, drawn out and deeply uncertain from start to finish. The motion refers to specific legislative proposals that have come before the Oireachtas in the past. I do not intend to focus on just this. Instead, I want to speak to the lived experiences of people who come into my clinic who are trying to buy a home and the systemic failures that continue to exist in the property purchasing market. I hope this is an area that we can all collaborate on.

In County Laois, I regularly meet first-time buyers and families who have spent months and, in some cases, years trying to secure a home and they describe the bidding process where they are given little or no information, where bids appear and disappear without explanation and where they are expected to make life-changing financial decisions without transparency or certainty. The lack of transparency in the purchasing and bidding process is one of the most consistent concerns I hear. Buyers are asked to trust a system that offers them very little reassurance in return. Linked to this is the widespread concern about false or inflated bidding. Whether wrongdoing has occurred, the perception alone is deeply damaging. It undermines confidence and leaves buyers feeling exposed and unprotected. Even where an offer is accepted, many buyers then face lengthy and exhausting delays, as Senator McCarthy mentioned. Sales can drag on for months, chains collapse and buyers are left out of pockets for surveys, legal fees and valuations, only to be told that the sale has fallen through. I have dealt with constituents in Laois who have gone through this cycle more than once, with no explanation and no clear recourse.

At a regulatory level, there is a clear gap in consumer protection. The PRSA lacks sufficient powers, and buyers who believe there has been wrongdoing often find there is no clear source of information and no meaningful complaints mechanism. The authority is very limited in enforcement when issues arise. The reality is that buyers carry the emotional and financial risk and the uncertainty while having the least power in this transaction. That is why I believe these issues require serious Oireachtas consideration and comprehensive legislative reform.

I welcome Senator Kelleher's remarks about the committee working on this and reviewing the different areas here because a lot of work needs to be done. Reform that makes the process of buying a home more open, transparent, timely and efficient, underpinned by real, enforceable consumer protections is important to all of us. I acknowledge again the work of Senator McCarthy and the Independent Group for bringing this matter forward. The concerns highlighted in this motion reflect what many of us are hearing directly from people trying to buy a home. I welcome the focus on transparency. This is really important to consumer protection and fairness in the purchasing process. That focus is both timely and necessary. I am really be interested in collaborating more on the issue because while there may be differences on legislation across the House, we do have strong common ground on the outcome we all want: a home buying process that is fair, open and genuinely protects consumers. I hope this is an area where we continue to work together constructively in this House and in our committee work as well.

However, if we are serious about delivering real reform, we must be honest about the structures that are needed to make this happen. This will not be achieved while the responsibility for this area remains with the Department of Justice, which carries an extremely heavy legislative workload and many urgent reform priorities. Responsibility for the PSRA and the surrounding legislative framework work should be transferred as a matter of urgency to the Department of housing in line with the commitment in the programme for Government.

Following that transfer, the Oireachtas housing committee, of which Senator McCarthy and I are members, should hold public sessions with all relevant stakeholders, including buyers, consumer advocates, auctioneers, legal professionals and regulators to examine what is and what is not working in the current system. That process should then inform a clear report for the Minister for housing and the Government can then commit to legislation on this issue during the term in office.

Again, I welcome the opportunity for more collaboration here. We can really see that this is an issue and urge that this House considers moving responsibility from the Department of justice to the Department of housing as it would be beneficial.

As we have heard here already, and I appreciate Senator McCarthy moving this motion in order to assist the IPAV in what way he can, quite a lot of work has gone into this. There has been over three years of work done. The current CEO of IPAV, Ms Genevieve McGuirk, and her predecessor, Mr. Pat Davitt, were at the front of that work. I think Seán Canney, originally, and Marc MacSharry then carried out a lot of work, and Robbie Gallagher evidently. Quite a lot of different people have helped along the way. There was a hell of a lot of progress. It was through pre-legislative scrutiny and the whole lot. It was ready to be taken up and ran through the Dáil, which would have been the natural process. However, we find it here today in the Seanad.

Unfortunately, today's process will be a backward step. The sentiment is well intended but the amendment is certainly not helpful and ill worded. The amendment to the motion is not of any help as it will give the power back to where we were trying to get it away from, which was the legal services and they will be all over this again. This is why we are where we are. I believe acceptance of the amendment would put us back to square one as an unintended consequence of today. What I have said is no reflection on anyone who talked here. They all talked in good faith about the amendment.

The Cathaoirleach has the power, under Standing Order 44, I think, which allows any member to withdraw a motion or an amendment from the Seanad, by agreement of the Seanad. I urge the Cathaoirleach to strongly consider that today because I am afraid that this amendment to the motion is not going to be helpful.

I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for coming to the House to deal with this. I note that he is a highly qualified financial accountant so will be keenly aware of business and financial transactions, which is a great thing to bring to the table.

On these matters, I welcome the former Senator, Lorraine Higgins, and representatives of the IPAV. Indeed, I acknowledge the importance of the work done by the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland. I have heard the contributions about the debate but Senator Aubrey McCarthy, who is a member of the Seanad's Independent Group, that I so happen to lead, believes, and I firmly believe too, that you need to bring things forward. If nothing else, from all of this debate, we are having a debate and, yes, there are concerns and they need to be asked but let us cut to the chase. There are five simple asks in this motion. None of them should be a problem for the Government, and we need to be clear on that. With all the jargon let us have clarity. I believe in clarity of function, clarity of purpose and clarity of mind. So it is my understanding that the motion has five key asks and calls on the Government to "address the issues outlined in the Report on Detailed Scrutiny of the Seller’s Legal Pack for Property Buyers Bill 2021" and "address the concerns about the conveyancing raised by the IPAV". I acknowledge and thank the IPAV for their advocacy and professionalism. I have always found them to be to the fore and very informative and have attended many of their briefings. I commend the IPAV as a leading agency and responsible for this area. The motion also mentions the concerns raised by "the Law Society of Ireland in their submissions".

Next, the motion calls on the Government to "liaise with the IPAV regarding how a new updated version of the Seller’s Legal Pack could be made possible". I could not see that as a setback. That is not a setback. The provision calls for positive engagement with the IPAV, whose representatives are in this room here today. Of course I support that.

Next, it proposes to "bring forward an updated version of the Bill". The provision does not say this is a Bill. This is a motion that calls on the Government to "bring forward" at any time. The motion does not stipulate today, tomorrow, next week or next month. The ask is a positive and the motion asks the Government to "bring forward".

Finally, the motion asks to "introduce a Bill or multiple Bills" - so a multiple of Bills, if necessary, so that it is possible to avail of the many benefits of the SLP proposal. That is simple. Let us keep it simple. There is no big ask. It does not need political manoeuvrings or to box clever and one versus the other. I know that with a coalition Government there will be challenges. I understand that. I can read that. I know what is going on.

In my remaining minutes, I note the Law Society has consistently highlighted the antiquated, overly complicated and the lengthy nature of the conveyancing system. It is crystal clear to solicitors that the current conveyancing system is long overdue systemic reform to reduce delays, costs and reduce stress on house buyers and sellers, be they commercial, residential, agricultural land, agricultural buildings or any property transactions. So that is clear.

The conveyancing system involves 15 interdependent parties, ranging from lenders, estate agents, solicitors, local authorities, Tailte Éireann - and do not get me going about them - Revenue, Uisce Éireann, valuers and surveyors. This means a delay by any one of those parties has a significant knock-on impact on the parties, and can impact on a successful sale or otherwise.

It is also important to note that many of the parties in the process, for example, financial lenders and local authorities, operate their own processes and protocols, which can result in misalignment of objectives and issues. It is important to note that there are many multiple sets of challenges. Every local authority in the county has a different system - and that is a problem - for requesting information. The Law Society has major issues with Tailte Éireann.

There are major challenges and I want to spend my remaining two minutes talking about Tailte Éireann. I was involved in the pre-legislative scrutiny of the Tailte Éireann Bill 2022 that subsequently was enacted by these Houses. The objective of the Bill was that the Tailte Éireann Act 2022 would establish a State body called Tailte Éireann through the dissolution of the Property Registration Authority and Ordnance Survey Ireland, and provide for the transfer of their functions to Tailte Éireann. The Act sought to transfer, and did seek to transfer, the functions of the Commissioner of Valuation and the Boundary Surveyor to Tailte Éireann. They are another complexity of issues and problems that are impacting on the sale of property such as, for example, agricultural land in the constituency of the Minister of State, local authority property, State property, residential houses and commercial buildings. There is a range of complexities in relation to selling, which we need to address and streamline. I note that the legislation states that it is open for a periodic critical review and, tonight, I call for a period critical review of Tailte Éireann.

I will finish by thanking Deputy Carol Nolan, an Independent Deputy, for asking a parliamentary question last week in the Dáil which resulted in the following figures on the arrears and delays in processing by Tailte Éireann. I will reiterate these figures, which I outlined in this Chamber the other day. In 2024, there were 24,496 cases sitting on the desks of Tailte Éireann. Can Members imagine all the sellers that involves, be they looking for maps or first registration? We have a crisis in Tailte Éireann. Tailte Éireann is not fit for purpose. I repeat, it is not fit for purpose. We know that in 2025, there were 57,612 cases sitting on the desks of Tailte Éireann and the applications still need to be processed. We know that within the last month, that is, January of this year, we have a further 2,839 cases. So the selling of property is challenging, difficult and complex. My colleague, who is sat on my right, and I commend him on bringing this Private Members' motion, is suggesting that we get started. The motion does not tie the hands of the Legislature, the Government or the Minister. It is saying, let us start a journey of engagement, get our act together and simplify these processes for all the parties involved.

I commend this motion.

I express my support for Senator McCarthy's motion. Anything in this very troubled business of buying and selling property that streamlines it or makes the whole engagement more efficient and leaner is to be recommended. This is what we are talking about here. I do not see any direct contradiction between the amendment and the motion. They are both pushing at a door they want to open. This is illustrated by a personal experience I had. I came into possession of a property prior to the crash which was financed by a Bank of Scotland mortgage. Then, of course, the crash came and two years after the crash Bank of Scotland hightailed it out of the country in 2010. Eight years later, in 2018, when the jigs and reels were finished, a crowd called Pepper Asset Servicing DAC took over the mortgage. To make a long story even longer, a few years back we decided to turn over the house. We went to the solicitor, who said he would look for the deeds from Pepper. When he went looking for the deeds from Pepper there were no deeds. Try as he might, he was told it did not have them and they were never sent to it. This started a long harangue between the solicitor and Pepper. There was no resolution. I had to go to an architect to get a new certificate of compliance, which cost me a lot of money, simply because Pepper had screwed up on maintaining the deeds of the house.

Afterwards, when I tried to recoup some of my expenses for the architect and the legal people, it was like the shadow that comes about when there is an eclipse of the sun. I think it is called a penumbra. Boy, was there a penumbra trying to get money back from Pepper. If there are any sad people around the country looking at this debate tonight who have had dealings with Pepper, please get in touch with me because I would love to compile a dossier. My solicitor said he had never seen a company the likes of it and I know this is universally and widely acclaimed. This is the sort of thing that can beset somebody in the buying and selling business. It is very difficult and very trying. I am a fairly cool individual and it did not really get to me but I know some people go cracked over these things. It brings a lot of domestic pressure. I am delighted Senator McCarthy has brought forward this motion, very doughtily supported by Senators Craughwell and Boyhan, and I wanted to weigh in. We are all on the one side. We are trying to make it easier for people and I do not think it should be a point-scoring business for the Government or us. Let us do the right thing for the hard-pressed buyers and sellers in the Irish market.

I thank our colleagues for tabling the motion and I welcome the Minister of State. I have a unique perspective on this. I am a solicitor and I run my own practice in Enniscorthy in Wexford where we specialise in property, conveyancing and probate. In a past life I lectured with the Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers on conveyancing and property law, bringing along the next generation of auctioneers.

I have seen this from many different perspectives, and one of the most frustrating things I have seen is that in so many standard property transactions it is only when a sale is agreed, and a willing buyer meets a willing seller who agree a price, that the legal process starts and a solicitor is engaged. Most people only hire a solicitor when they have gone sale agreed. At that stage the process starts with requests for title deeds from the bank. This can take anywhere from two weeks to three months. Then we have to gather up the contracts. When the house had been bought 20 years ago there was no such thing as the property tax, a non-principal private residence discharge or a certificate of compliance for the back kitchen that was put on afterwards. All of these documents now have to be gathered up and that takes another two to three months. At this stage, the person who has agreed to buy the house is five months in and still has not seen a contract. The reality is that this happens far too often.

It is the same with probate cases. So many families make the decision to put the family home on the marketplace and sell it before probate is granted. In my experience this leads to so much frustration. The transaction can go sale agreed, with the buyer and the seller agreeing a price and everything being fine, except probate takes anything from between six months to two years and, unfortunately, until probate is granted the sale cannot be closed. Everybody is stuck in limbo. Everybody wants to close the sale, move the transaction forward and be finished with the deal but, unfortunately, it just cannot be done.

This is an area to tease out in more detail and bring forward some of these measures to see how they would work. I do not believe the conveyancing system we have in the country at present can be revolutionised. It has to be incrementally changed with one or two changes a year, and over a ten-year period we will have revolutionised the system. There have been advancements in moving from the Registry of Deeds and the land registry system. I heard the earlier comments about the frustrations Senators have had in their interactions with Tailte Éireann and I share so many of these frustrations. I have found that at times, depending on when applications are lodged, what county they are based in and where they made, there is a different processing time. This is a national organisation and it should never be the case with a national organisation that it operates to different times at a local level.

It is the same with the probate offices. In County Wexford at present, which is where I am based, the probate officer is shared with County Waterford. If there is a probate district, it should have its own probate officer. If we are compelled to lodge an application in the county where we are, there should be a full designated team within the set-up. This is not to take from the good work that the probate offices do but they need more resources.

People talk about the frustrations they have with buying their first home. The reality is that when all of the delays that exist in the system are compiled, it is incredibly frustrating. As far as people are concerned, they have agreed to buy a house and they have agreed the price they are going to pay so they should be able to sign a few papers and it is all done and it happens.

The course run for auctioneers provides really good detail on the conveyancing process and how it all works. Having gone through the solicitors' training course, perhaps the same detail is not there compared to what the auctioneers are doing on the other side. There is an opportunity for a bit more collaboration between the two professions. Perhaps this is something that can be looked at also.

I have a lot of concerns about where the solicitor profession is going in rural areas and about the sheer lack of trainees in rural practices. In a situation where everybody relies on a solicitor to make a will or buy and sell a house, or perhaps something else that comes up along the way, I am worried that in ten, 15 or 20 years we will see the same situation as we have with access to GPs. If we do not put in place proper mechanisms to ensure trainees are trained up in rural counties and remote areas, the profession will not be there.

I certainly agree with a lot of the points raised here. In my experience there are a lot of changes that could be made. I have heard time and again about the idea of e-conveyancing but if we changed the simple practical things I have outlined, we would probably knock six months off a standard property transaction.

I am pleased to have the opportunity this evening to participate in the debate on this important issue on behalf of the Government and to thank my colleague, Senator Anne Rabbitte, for moving the Government's amendment to that of the Independent group of Senators. Notwithstanding this, I want to acknowledge the work undertaken by Senator McCarthy and the Independent group of Senators in tabling a motion on this matter, as we know that many aspects of the conveyancing process in Ireland are inefficient and improvements are required in the interests of all participants.

At the outset, I believe that it is important to emphasise our commitment to improving efficiency and reducing costs in the process of buying and selling property. A well-functioning and efficient property market that benefits both buyers and sellers is required and to achieve this it is important that we reduce delays and remove unnecessary red tape from the conveyancing process. This is acknowledged in the programme for Government setting an eight-week conveyancing target for the legal profession.

The Government has proposed an amendment today as it is important to recognise that this is a multifaceted challenge, which this Government has long been committed to addressing. This debate provides me with a welcome opportunity to report to Seanad Éireann on the significant work that is being undertaken to streamline property conveyancing in line with the national target of an eight-week turnaround, particularly since the original Bill was referred to the select committee in late 2024.

As many of the Senators will be aware, in pursuit of delivering the Housing for All action plan published in November 2023, an expert group on conveyancing and probate was convened by the then Taoiseach in December 2023. This expert group was established to review conveyancing and probate processes in Ireland from a user perspective and recommend changes implementable quickly and easily to reduce costs and delays for home purchasers. The group of eight members, with a mix of expertise and perspectives, met with a range of stakeholders and representative organisations. A major objective underpinning the group’s work was to maximise the available housing stock by avoiding having homes lying empty because they are caught in lengthy and inefficient conveyancing or probate transactions. I assure Senators that the Government remains fully committed to this goal.

The report of the expert group on conveyancing and probate was approved by the Government in July 2024. Importantly, the Government also approved the establishment of a conveyancing and probate implementation group tasked with beginning the implementation of short-term recommendations, as well as developing a detailed programme, including assigning ownership and committed timelines to implement the full set of recommendations from the expert group. This is particularly important because, since its establishment, the independently chaired implementation group has progressed a number of very important workstreams.

Composed of a range of key stakeholders, including professionals, industry bodies such as the Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers, and Government agencies and Departments, the group has already made significant progress on many measures. These include, first, the development of a public information pack to improve knowledge of the process, minimise delays and equip home buyers with the information required to engage efficiently with professional conveyancing services. This is now available on the gov.ie website to ensure maximum accessibility. Second, a best practice charter has been created, setting out principles of best practice for the main professions involved in the delivery of conveyancing services. It sets out key principles of best practice for estate agents and solicitors relating to conveyancing, covering three key areas, namely, advice to seller clients, expediency, efficiency and avoidance of unnecessary delays, and accountability. Third, an initial baseline survey was run by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, to gauge the experience of consumers in the conveyancing process. Fourth, a revised consumer protection code has been published by the Central Bank, requiring banks, retail credit firms and credit servicing firms to provide title deeds within ten working days of a request. Fifth, options have been brought forward to get more titles registered in the Land Registry more quickly and to expedite the registration of properties and the transfer of deeds. Sixth, legislation will be prepared later in the year to support the increased use of statements of truth to replace certain hard copy affidavits or statutory declarations in the conveyancing process. Seventh, greater efficiencies in response times have been achieved for information requests from the various stakeholders. Eighth, the development of a proposal for a national e-conveyancing system. Ninth, and finally, the Courts Service is rolling out a reform programme to the probate process, which has already seen significant reduction in processing times, including the implementation of eProbate on a pilot basis.

All these measures reflect how the group is looking at every aspect of the conveyancing process to find efficiencies and address bottlenecks wherever possible. I very much welcome the progress made by the implementation group as it works towards achieving an eight-week conveyancing target. This is important work, which will mean fewer costs and delays for home buyers, and more homes being made available efficiently on the market.

I assure the Senators that both the expert group and the implementation group have fully considered the various issues that can either collapse or significantly delay the conveyancing process. The expert group received a briefing regarding the Seller's Legal Pack for Property Buyers Bill 2021 and considered the matter fully. The group acknowledged that the Bill was proposed to help deal with a serious issue that could cause significant delays in conveyancing processes relating to failures to pull necessary information and documentation sufficiently early in a conveyancing process. The group agreed that action needed to be taken to ensure that much more was done regarding the collection of information, necessary certifications, title deeds and so on early in a sale process and that this was at the earliest point of engagement with the estate agent and vendor’s solicitor. This work is core to both groups' objectives and achievements to date. The expert group was also made aware of the experience in England and Wales when a statutory regime, similar to that proposed by the Seller's Legal Pack for Property Buyers Bill 2021, was repealed, in part due to a perception that it was causing unduly high upfront costs for sellers and that properties were being held back from the market. At the same time, the group was also aware of a more positive outcome of legislation with similar effects in Scotland.

As acknowledged by the Independent Senators' motion itself, the Department of justice and the expert group regard the seller's legal pack Bill as having some difficulties. These were discussed during the detailed scrutiny undertaken by the justice committee. Suffice to say, having carefully considered the options available, the expert group on conveyancing and probate concluded that a number of measures should be tried first before going down the legislative route. Furthermore, the implementation group has given further consideration to these issues and concluded that: efforts should be aimed at mechanisms to ensure that a key essential baseline of information on properties for sale is collected at the pre-sale stage; that there should be a means of preventing a property from going to market or going to sale agreed or contract stage unless this information has been collected; and that the three parties likely to have most control in ensuring that the necessary information is collected are the vendors, the estate agents and the vendors’ solicitors.

The implementation group has identified nine specific categories of pre-sale information that, if not collected early in a conveyancing process, are more likely to cause delays beyond the target of an eight-week conveyancing process. Several options, with varying degrees of enforceability, were considered with a view to delivering better information at the earliest stage in the conveyancing process. These included legislation, regulation and best practice codes.

Arising from these discussions, it was agreed that the two relevant regulatory bodies, those being, the Property Services Regulatory Authority and the Legal Services Regulatory Authority, would embark on developing regulatory codes of practice, within the measures already provided for in their respective governing legislation, for their regulated practitioners. The intention is that codes of practice would be binding on both solicitors and property services professionals, but the enforcement measures and the implications differ slightly in their respective governing legislation. These codes of practice will deal with key topics, such as making it obligatory for the client to be formally advised of the necessary information to be collected at an early stage, that failure to collect this information is likely to result in significant delays in the conveyancing process, and that the estate agent advises the vendor to engage a solicitor as early as possible in the process.

I understand that the development of these codes is currently ongoing with intensive engagement between the PSRA, LSRA and the Law Society. It is expected that this approach, coupled with other measures implemented by the group, will result in greater efficiency and overall improvement in the conveyancing process.

I again thank Senator McCarthy and the Independent Group for bringing forward the motion. While the Government cannot support it, it has provided me with an opportunity to outline the work undertaken by the interdepartmental implementation group on conveyancing and probate, which is progressing many of the main issues of concern, including the principles contained in the seller's legal pack Bill. It is clear that good progress has been made in respect of this work. There are many advantages to this approach of establishing codes of practice and progressing many matters on a non-statutory footing.

Notwithstanding the speed with which the measures can be progressed, they also provide in-built flexibility in terms of being able to quickly adjust to any issues of concern that may arise. It is therefore the Government’s intention that this work continues with the input of the relevant stakeholders and representatives from the various bodies. I assure the Independent Group that it is also intended that this area is kept under review. If the implementation of codes of practice does not result in the efficiencies expected, the legislative route will be revisited in the future.

I have listened to colleagues and enjoyed the debate. I also listened carefully to the amendment. I thank the Minister of State for his response. I thank Senators for contributing. It is helpful to realise that we are all on the same page. Point-scoring was mentioned but that is certainly not what I am about. Senator Cathal Byrne summed it up lovely when he said that we are all seeing that there are issues in this process. Perhaps, further work needs to be done, but we definitely see there are issues.

I forgot to mention when I first spoke about former Deputy, Marc MacSharry who brought forward the seller's legal pack Bill in the Dáil. The Government's amendment concludes that non-statutory implementation is the most effective way and achieving an eight-week national conveyancing target is what is in mind. The Minister of State said:

I wish to assure the Independent Group that it is also intended that this area is kept under review. If the implementation of codes of practice does not result in the efficiencies expected, the legislative route will be revisited in the future.

My fear is that no timeline is given.

Ireland's home buying process is far too slow and too risky. The seller's legal pack is a simple, effective way to fix that issue by ensuring that all the critical information is on the table. If the Government is considering plausible and enforceable measures on a non-legislative basis, there is an absence of a timeline. That is what we need to focus on. If the Minister of State can tell me the plans and deadlines right now, that would be greatly appreciated. What is the Government's plan to make that pre-sale information available without introducing new legislation?

I can press the motion or accept the amendment. I just want to make a difference in the housing sector to try to make sure that people like Keith, who I mentioned earlier, can be helped and we all move together. I never see myself as in opposition to anybody. I want to work forward. Anybody who knows me in the House knows that I have a track record of working together in good faith and listening carefully. Yet, at the same time, I can step back when it helps to deliver real progress rather than simply winning an argument.

I thank Senators for their contribution to the debate.

When is it proposed to sit again?

At 10.30 a.m. tomorrow.

Is that agreed? Agreed.