Minister Fitzgerald publishes draft legislation to merge Property Registration Authority, Valuation Office and Ordnance Survey Ireland
- Bill will establish new organisation, Tailte Éireann, merging the Property Registration Authority, the Valuation Office and Ordnance Survey Ireland.
- Minister says that creation of Tailte Éireann meets Government commitment on agency rationalisation.
- More efficient and effective delivery of land, location data and property administration services in Ireland.
- Merger to be progressed on administrative basis prior to enactment of legislation.
22 January, 2015
Frances Fitzgerald, T.D., Minister for Justice and Equality has published the Heads and General Scheme of the Tailte Éireann Bill, which provides for the merger of the Property Registration Authority, Valuation Office and Ordnance Survey Ireland.
The new organisation, Tailte Éireann will have responsibility for several important functions, including:
- The State property registration system;
- The State mapping and surveying infrastructure;
- The State property valuation service;
- The development and maintenance of State geospatial information;
- Dealing with applications for purchase of ground rents; and
- Ensuring the proper functioning of the Valuation Tribunal.
Minister Fitzgerald stated: “The merger of the Property Registration Authority, the Valuation Office and Ordnance Survey Ireland meets one of the Government’s commitments in the Agency Rationalisation Programme. It is anticipated that the establishment of Tailte Éireann will lead to the more efficient and effective delivery of land, spatial data and property administration services in Ireland.”
As a result of the merger of the three existing organisations, savings can be expected in the short to medium term from the consolidation of common back office functions. In the longer term, more efficiencies and synergies are expected in operational areas and through the better use of combined data sets.
The Minister indicated that a major opportunity will arise from combining the data and information held by the three existing organisations. Together they manage the most comprehensive set of property and spatial data in Ireland. Combining the information resources provides the opportunity to facilitate the development and delivery of a National Spatial Data Infrastructure.
The Minister also stated that in advance of the enactment of the legislation, work is ongoing to merge the three organisations on an administrative basis. It is anticipated that Ministerial responsibility for the Valuation Office (currently under the aegis of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform) and Ordnance Survey Ireland (currently under the aegis of the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources) will transfer to the Minister for Justice and Equality in the first half of 2015.
The General Scheme of the Tailte Éireann Bill is available here:
ENDS…/
Notes for Editors:
General Scheme of Tailte Éireann Bill
The General Scheme of the Tailte Éireann Bill is being forwarded to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality for pre-legislative scrutiny.
PART 1 of the Bill comprises the general and preliminary provisions relating to the Bill. These include standard provisions relating to commencement, interpretation, repeals, expenses and the laying of orders and regulations.
PART 2 of the Bill deals with the establishment of the new organisation – to be called Tailte Éireann.
PART 3 of the Bill contains provisions relating to registration of title.
PART 4 of the Bill contains provisions relating to surveying of land.
PART 5 of the Bill contains provisions relating to valuation of land.
Rationalisation of State Agencies
The Government’s Public Service Reform Plan published in November 2011 included proposals for the rationalisation of State Agencies. One of these proposals was to “Merge the Valuation Office and Ordnance Survey Ireland and the Property Registration Authority.”
A Critical Review was conducted by the three relevant parent Departments and it recommended that the merger of these three organisations should proceed.
The Critical Review report is available here.
