Land registry delay hurting farmers

AN ONGOING delay in processing land registry queries by the Property Registration Authority is causing farmers hardship, Fine Gael has claimed.

The party’s agriculture and food spokesperson Denis Naughten, TD, said these delays will have a direct impact on people whose land is being acquired compulsorily for road projects.

Young couples trying to build a house on the family farm, those selling a site to reduce bank debts and farmers entering the Rural Environment Protection Scheme or the early retirement scheme could also be affected.

Mr Naughten, criticising Justice Minister Michael McDowell for the delays, said farmers cannot receive compensation until all land registry documentation is in order.

Landowners in Mayo have the longest average waiting time of 68 weeks followed by Cavan where farmers have to wait on average 56 weeks for their queries to be processed.

“Bearing in mind that these figures are an average of the waiting time, in some cases landowners could be waiting years to have their applications processed,” he said.

Mr McDowell said in a Dáil reply to Mr Naughten that the total number of dealings on hands in the PRA Authority at the end of January was 175,790.

A total of 35,364 of these were the subject of queries.

“Live” cases therefore total 140,426.

He said the length of time taken to complete cases varies, depending on a number of factors such as case complexity and incomplete documentation.