Registration of Deeds and Title Act 2006

PART 1 Preliminary and General

1. Short title, collective citation and construction.

1.— (1) This Act may be cited as the Registration of Deeds and Title Act 2006.

(2) The Registration of Title Act 1964 and this Act (other than sections 76 and 77) may be cited together as the Registration of Deeds and Title Acts 1964 and 2006 and are to be construed together as one.

2. Commencement.

2.— (1) Subject to subsection(2), this Act comes into operation on such day or days as the Minister may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision, and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or provisions.

(2) Sections 76 and 77 come into operation on the passing of this Act.

3. Interpretation.

3.— In this Act—

“Act of 1964” means the Registration of Title Act 1964;

“Authority” means the Property Registration Authority established under section 9;

“general rules” means rules under section 48 or under section 126 of the Act of 1964;

“Minister” means the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

4. Repeals and consequential amendment of Act of 1964.

4.— (1) The enactments specified in the Schedule to this Act are repealed to the extent specified in the third column thereof.

(2) References in the Act of 1964 to a registering authority and the Registrar, and references in it and in any other enactment to the Registrar of Titles or Registrar of Deeds, are deleted and references to the Authority inserted.

(3) Accordingly, the words “he”, “him” and “his”, where referring in that Act or other enactment to a registering authority or the Registrar, Registrar of Titles or Registrar of Deeds, are also deleted and, as appropriate, “it” or “its” inserted.

(4) The Act of 1964 is further amended by the deletion of “central office” in sections 8, 108(2) and 121(2) and the insertion of “Land Registry”.

5. Expenses.

5.— The expenses incurred in respect of the Authority under this Act and the Act of 1964 and any other expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of those Acts shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

6. Laying of orders and general rules before Houses of the Oireachtas.

6.— An order under section 21 or under section 24 of the Act of 1964 and any general rules shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling it is passed by either House within the subsequent 21 days on which that House has sat after it is laid before it, the order or rule is annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under it.

PART 2 Property Registration Authority

7. Establishment day.

7.—F1[…]

8. Definition (Part 2).

8.—F2[…]

9. Property Registration Authority.

9.—F3[…]

10. Functions of Authority.

10.— (1) The functions of the Authority are—

(a) to manage and control the Registry of Deeds and the Land Registry,

(b) to promote and extend the registration of ownership of land,

(c) to deal with applications under Part III of the Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) (No. 2) Act 1978,

(d) to undertake or commission, or collaborate or assist in, research projects and activities relating to the registration of ownership of land, including the compilation of statistical data needed for the proper planning, development and provision of services related to such registration,

(e) to perform any additional functions conferred on it under subsection(4), and

(f) to keep the Minister informed of progress in relation to the registration of ownership of land and to assist him or her in the development of policy in relation to such registration.

(2) The Authority may disseminate, to such extent and in such manner as it considers appropriate, information in relation to the services provided by it and their availability.

(3) The Authority may, subject to this Act, do anything which it considers necessary or expedient to enable it to perform its functions.

(4) The Minister may by order confer on the Authority such additional functions connected with the functions for the time being of the Authority as he or she considers appropriate.

(5) An order under this section—

(a) shall be made with the consent of the Minister for Finance and after consultation with the Authority,

(b) may be subject to any conditions specified in the order, and

(c) may contain such incidental, supplemental or consequential provisions as may, in the opinion of the Minister, be necessary to give full effect to it.

(6) The Minister may by order amend or revoke an order under this section, including an order under this subsection.

11. Membership.

11.—F4[…]

12. Vacancies.

12.—F5[…]

13. Membership etc., of Dáil, Seanad or European Parliament.

13.—F6[…]

14. Disclosure of interests.

14.—F7[…]

15. Non-disclosure of confidential information.

15.—F8[…]

16. Meetings.

16.—F9[…]

17. Committees, consultants and advisers to Authority.

17.—F10[…]

18. Strategic plans.

18.—F11[…]

19. Reports to Minister.

19.—F12[…]

20. General policy directives.

20.—F13[…]

21. Fees.

21.—F14[…]

22. Chief Executive.

22.—F15[…]

23. Chief Executive to be accounting officer.

23.—F16[…]

24. Amendment of Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act 1993.

24.— The Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act 1993 is amended by inserting the following section after section 18A:

“Application of this Act to Property Registration Authority.

18B.— This Act applies to the Property Registration Authority as if it were a Department.”.

25. Attendance of Chief Executive before Oireachtas Committee.

25.— (1) Subject to subsection(2), the Chief Executive shall, at the request in writing of a committee of the Oireachtas, attend before it to give account for the general administration of the Authority, including its strategic plans.

(2) In this section “committee of the Oireachtas” means a committee appointed by either House of the Oireachtas or jointly by both Houses of the Oireachtas (except the Committee on Members’ Interests of Dáil Éireann or the Committee on Members’ Interests of Seanad Éireann) or a subcommittee of a committee so appointed.

26. Staff of Authority.

26.— (1) Subject to subsection(3) and section22(2), the Authority may appoint such number of persons to be members of its staff as it may determine.

(2) Subject tosubsection(3), the Authority shall determine the grades of members of its staff and the numbers in each grade.

(3) A determination of the Authority under subsection(1) or (2) is subject to the approval of the Minister and the consent of the Minister for Finance.

(4) The functions of the Authority may be performed on behalf of the Authority by any member or members of its staff who is or are authorised by it to do so.

(5) A member of the staff of the Authority who performs any of its functions is presumed in any proceedings to have been authorised by it to do so on its behalf, unless the contrary is shown.

(6) Members of the staff of the Authority are civil servants in the Civil Service of the Government.

(7) The Authority is the appropriate authority (within the meaning of the Civil Service Commissioners Act 1956 and the Civil Service Regulation Acts 1956 to 2005) in relation to its staff.

27. Transfer of staff to Authority.

27.— Every person who immediately before the establishment day was a member of the staff of the Land Registry or Registry of Deeds shall become a member of the staff of the Authority on that day.

28. Transfer of land and other property.

28.— (1) On the establishment day—

(a) land that immediately before that day was vested in the Minister, the Minister for Finance or the Commissioners of Public Works and is designated by the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, for use solely for purposes related to the Authority's functions, and

(b) any rights, powers and privileges relating to or connected with the land,

stand vested in the Authority, without any conveyance or assignment, for the estate or interest therein that immediately before the establishment day was vested in any of the persons referred to in paragraph(a), but subject to any trusts and equities then affecting the land.

(2) On the establishment day, property other than land, including any chose in action, that immediately before that day was being used in connection with a function of the Registrar of Deeds or Registrar of Titles or Registrar of Deeds and Titles corresponding to a function of the Authority stands vested in the Authority without any assignment.

(3) A chose in action vested in the Authority under subsection(2) may, on and after the establishment day, be sued on, recovered or enforced by or against the Authority in its own name, and the Authority or the Minister need not give notice of the vesting to any person bound by the chose in action.

(4) On the establishment day, documents and records that were held by the Land Registry and Registry of Deeds immediately before that day stand vested in the Authority.

(5) The Minister may, and shall on application by the Authority, issue a certificate that specified property is property to which this section applies or does not apply.

(6) In any proceedings a certificate purporting to be so issued is admissible, without further proof, as evidence of the matters stated in it.

29. Preservation of contracts.

29.— Any contract, agreement or arrangement made—

(a) between the Minister and the Registrar of Deeds, the Registrar of Titles or the Registrar of Deeds and Titles, or

(b) between any other person and any of those Registrars,

and in force immediately before the establishment day—

(i) continues in force on or after that day, and

(ii) has effect as if the name of the Authority were substituted in the contract, agreement or arrangement for the name of the Registrar concerned.

30. Pending proceedings.

30.— If, immediately before the establishment day, any proceedings are pending in any court or tribunal to which the Registrar of Deeds, the Registrar of Titles or the Registrar of Deeds and Titles is a party, the name of the Authority is substituted in the proceedings for that of the Registrar concerned, and the proceedings do not abate by reason of the substitution.

31. Saving for certain acts.

31.— Nothing in this Act affects the validity of any act done before the establishment day by or on behalf of the Registrar of Deeds, the Registrar of Titles or the Registrar of Deeds and Titles, and any such act, if and in so far as it was operative immediately before that day, has effect on and after that day as if it had been done by or on behalf of the Authority.

PART 3 Registration of Deeds

32. Interpretation (Part 3).

32.— (1) In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires—

“deed” means a document by which an estate or interest in land is created, transferred, charged or otherwise affected and includes any of the following documents, whether under seal or not, affecting land:

(a) a conveyance;

(b) a document not attested;

(c) an assent under the Succession Act 1965;

(d) a vesting certificate under the Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) (No. 2) Act 1978;

F17[(e) a certificate of vesting issued under section 46(1) of the Bankruptcy Act 1988 as evidence of the vesting of land in the Official Assignee under that Act;]

(f) a receipt under section 43 of the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1893, section 53 of the Friendly Societies Act 1896, section 84(1) of the Building Societies Act 1976 or section 18(1) of the Housing Act 1988;

F18[(g) an application to register a judgment mortgage under section 116 of the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009;]

(h) a judgment, decree or order of a court or a declaration by a court of title, division or allotment;

(i) a notification or order under the Land Reclamation Act 1949;

(j) a notice under the Family Home Protection Act 1976 F19[or undersection 36of the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010];

(k) a certified copy of a statement under section 3(8)(c) (inserted by section 54(1)(b)(ii) of the Family Law Act 1995) of the Family Home Protection Act 1976 F19[or undersection 28(12) of the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010];

(l) a record of the registration of the ownership of any estate or interest in land as referred to in section 116(2) of the Act of 1964;

(m) information in electronic or other non-legible form which is capable of being converted into any of the preceding documents; and

(n) such other documents as may be prescribed;

but does not include—

(i) any document affecting, or in so far as it affects, registered land, or

(ii) any lease for a term not exceeding 21 years (or such other period as may be prescribed) where actual occupation is in accordance with the lease;

F18["land" has the meaning given to it bysection 3of the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009;]

“lease” means any contract of tenancy and includes an agreement for a lease;

“record” includes any book, index or document and any information in electronic or other non-legible form which is capable of being converted into a permanent legible form;

“register” means the register of deeds maintained under section35;

“Registry” has the meaning given to it by section33;

“repealed enactments” means the enactments repealed by this Act.

(2) In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires—

(a) a reference to a section or the Schedule is a reference to a section of, or the Schedule to, this Act,

(b) a reference to a subsection or paragraph is a reference to the subsection or paragraph of the provision in which the reference occurs,

(c) a reference to any enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended, extended or adapted, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, by or under any subsequent enactment.

33. Registry of Deeds.

33.— (1) There shall be an office or offices for the purpose of registering deeds.

(2) The office or offices shall be known as the Registry of Deeds (referred to in this Part as “the Registry”).

(3) The Registry shall be under the management and control of the Property Registration Authority.

34. Transitional provision.

34.— (1) Any register or record maintained under any of the enactments mentioned in Part 1of the Schedule shall form part of the appropriate register or record maintained under this Part or general rules.

(2) Any document issued or made under any of the enactments mentioned in Part 1 of the Schedule and in force immediately before the commencement of this section shall continue in force and have the same validity as if made or issued under this Part.

35. Register of deeds.

35.— (1) The Authority shall maintain a register of deeds.

(2) The register—

(a) shall be in the prescribed form,

(b) shall contain the prescribed information, and

(c) may be in an electronic or other non-legible form which is capable of being converted into a permanent legible form.

36. Registration of deeds.

36.— (1) An application for registration of a deed in the register shall be made in the prescribed form.

(2) The manner in which registration is to be effected shall be prescribed.

37. Allocation of serial numbers.

37.— A serial number shall be allocated in the prescribed manner to every application for registration under this Part.

38. Effect of registration.

38.— (1) Deeds registered under this Part are deemed and taken as good and effectual both in law and equity according to the priority determined by the serial numbers allocated to them pursuant to section37 and shall, as regards any right, title, interest or liability arising from their execution, rank in priority among themselves according to the priority determined by the serial numbers so allocated.

(2) A deed which is not so registered is void against a registered deed affecting the land concerned.

(3) This section is without prejudice to the application of any rule of law or equity in cases where a person claiming under a registered deed had knowledge, or is deemed to have had knowledge, of a prior unregistered deed.

39. Validity of certain registered deeds.

39.— (1) Subject to subsection(2), proof of execution of a deed by a witness to the execution by a grantee under the deed is deemed to be and always to have been as valid, for the purposes of section 6 of the Registration of Deeds Act 1707, as if the witness had been a witness to the execution by a grantor under it.

(2) Subsection (1) does not affect—

(a) any judgment or order given or made before the commencement of this section in any proceedings, including appeal proceedings, or

(b) any proceedings pending at such commencement,

in relation to the execution of a deed.

40. Rectification of errors.