Victor Boyhan Criticises Talta Arran and Demands Audit

I want to welcome the Minister to the House and to thank you for coming. Minister I'm raising an issue about Talta Arran and of course you know that Talta Arran was the merger of the Property Registration Authority, the Evaluation Office, the Ordnance Survey of Ireland and they were all merged to form this Talta Arran, indeed I was a member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee that scrutinised this, teased out these issues and we warmly welcomed Talta Arran and its establishment at that time, it promised many, many things. Today I'm asking you back here, I had a commencement, the exact same commencement matter, so I look forward to a different script and a different response and I have the script and the response here, I wouldn't mislead your Minister so I want to tell you that now and that commencement matter was on the 26th of February 2025. So basically it is for the need for you Minister in the department to make a statement on the dealings and the issues around the governance and the timely manner in which Talta Arran carries out or seeks to carry out its business and the problems that are associated with that. So I think at the very outset I want to point out to you Minister that the Incorporated Law Society have had a number of commentary, ran a number of commentaries on it, solicitors up and down this country have concerns about Talta Arran, the Bar Council has concerns about it. I personally have experience and I have ongoing experience with Talta Arran which I don't intend to bring it in and my contribution today is not motivated by my own personal difficulties with Talta Arran and I want to put that on the record. So the situation is that for many farmers, for many house purchasers, for sellers, for the people who wish to dispose of commercial property, we talk about dereliction that you would know well in terms of your brief in your ministry and your commitment to the restoration of our old towns and cities, our pre-crona initiatives and all of that. But behind many of the derelict properties we have issues about title, we have issues about registration, we have issues about probate, we have issues about ownership or disputed ownership and this is where Talta Arran is critical. So Talta Arran wants to speed up these processes. We know that there are people going on for years waiting for a process. We know that people have contacted Talta Arran and been told no you can't deal with us, you must go back to your solicitor. Now the organisation, I'm saying this advisedly, with a lot of documentation on this organisation and I spoke to a number of borrowers and solicitors yesterday, this organisation is simply not fit for purpose. So my ask for you today, one is to carry out, I think we should carry out an audit of its functions. I think we should put in place, because I don't come in here and knock things, I come in to highlight deficiencies and come up with positive suggestions. If you apply for a passport today, you will be, it'll be validated and it'll then go on a tracker system. There's no such thing as an open tracker system. There's no open transparency and accountability about this organisation. We have built this monster called Talta Arran. Now it suggests that they don't have resources. This is a closely aligned organisation with your department. So I want to hear, have they resources? Because I don't want that excuse anymore. Have they got the manpower? Have they got the IT technologies and structures in place, soft and hardware in place to manage it? But this is a very important arm of state where we are tackling. There are young people who are waiting, have lost deposits, waiting for Talta Arran because the vendor, the purchaser has a problem with Talta Arran. So look what I'm saying loud and clear. Talta Arran is not fit for purpose as of today, in my view. I have substantial evidence to say that, to back that up. And I think that the citizen and the solicitors who engage and make representation to Talta Arran on behalf of their clients should be able to track. A tracking system that you click in, your Talta Arran number is this. Where are you in the line of decision-making with Talta Arran? So that's my ask today. I've drafted up a number of PQ questions. I'm meeting a deputy this week to talk about submission. But I want to get the direct response from you, hopefully, and hopefully we can put in place some mechanism of reform. Thank you, Senator Boyan. Could I just acknowledge the public gallery there? I think we have some O'Grathina, or at least former O'Grathina Fáil membership in the public gallery. So great to see Ian here today showing an interest in democracy. And thank you, Senator Boyan, for raising this issue. Look, I'll give you a detailed response. Hopefully there's some new material in there compared to what you've heard before. But just to say, I think in the response, you'll see that there's been an emphasis on recruitment and on filling vacant posts, which I feel is acknowledgement from Talta Arran that they do not want to be a bottleneck in the process anymore. And the acknowledgement perhaps that they have been in the past, but they are trying to smoothen that out in terms of recruitment. Talta Arran is an independent government agency under the aegis of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Talta Arran provide a property registration system, property valuation service and national mapping and surveying infrastructure for the state. Under section 8 of the Talta Arran Act 2022, Talta Arran is dependent in the performance of its functions. As such, as Minister, I have no role in the operational matters relating to its functions. In 2023, a request for a planned increase in the pay bill subhead of Talta Arran's vote was supported by the Department and subsequently granted in the estimates for 2024. As part of Talta Arran's resourcing strategy, an accelerated recruitment programme was launched in early 2024 to address the high volume of vacancies and strengthen operational capacities in response to the increasing service demands. The programme introduced standardised recruitment processes across internal, external and mobility routes to ensure consistent and efficient staffing. Since its launch in February 2024, the Talta Arran resourcing team have focused on filling 147 priority roles. In addition, a further 276 vacancies, including 135 within registration function, have been filled across Talta Arran through a combination of new hires, promotion and mobility placements. The remaining 71 active Talta Arran vacancies, 11 of which relate to the registration function, are currently progressing through various stages of the recruitment cycle, with a target to reduce overall vacancy levels across Talta Arran to below 3% by the end of 2025. The continued increase in applications received for registration by Talta Arran year over year, and challenges in recruitment for some time now have resulted in longer processing times for certain application types. Talta Arran has responded proactively to these challenges, with a significant number of new staffing being onboarded and currently progressing through initial training. As a result, Talta Arran is now operating with increased staffing levels, which will support ongoing improvements in the delivery of registration services and contribute to the timely processing of applications. Talta Arran have advised me that improvements have been made to date in throughput times, particularly in relation to cases that do not require mapping. I am confident that as the full complement of staff are successfully onboarded, it will be in a position to reduce waiting times across all application types. Outside of recruitment, every effort has been made by Talta Arran to reduce application processing times, including implementation of the following efficiency-driven driving measures. Revised procedures for more efficient handling of the large volume of applications which are lodged that are not in order to proceed to registration. A targeted approach to reduce the age profile of applications pending registration. Revised internal processes aimed at reducing the volume of applications on hand which are not in order to proceed and remain under query. An organisation-wide focus on reducing processing times, with business process improvements now implemented across the organisation. Talta Arran also continues to promote its digital services and uptake of e-registration services, where paperless application types are available to legal practitioners and financial institutions, which help to reduce processing times for all service users. Finally, it is understood from Talta Arran that where an application is lodged fully in order for registration, the application will be registered without any long delay. Applications involving transfer of registered land where no change in the registered map is required are in the main process within 15 working days and processing times for transfers which do require a change to the map and those requiring forced registration of property are improving. There is a small bit more information there about how to access that information, but I would be interested to hear your views and thoughts on that detail. Thank you, Minister. I did tell you it was Wednesday the 26th of February. The whole cut and paste sentences in the beginning is exactly the same. But forget about that. People have to do a job and I understand that. And you have shine a light in a few places. All of that, I dare say spiel, but respectfully, all that you have read out there is about resources. 71 vacancies in an organisation that's two years old. 71. So the story is to the solicitors who ring up. They hang up. I got a solicitor. I sat in the solicitor's office last Friday. And what they ring and they tell you, oh, I can't do anything about that. This is a disgrace. Talta Arran is not functioning for our farmers, our farmlands, our farm buildings, our commercial people, our residential people, young people trying to get property. It needs, and I'm calling Minister on you, to use your parts, to have a discussion with your management team and find out what is going to Talta Arran. I will be personally writing to the Public Accounts Commission because I believe we need to examine them and their practices. They're not fit for purpose. I don't want to get into personal cases, but I know people are waiting two or three years to tell me 14 or 15 days. And if there's a query, they leave it sitting. They don't send it back. Thirdly, when people ring up, they're refused to have a conversation. They're told you have to go through your solicitor. I want to make it loud and clear. This organisation is simply not fit for purpose. It's not doing its job in a professional or timely manner. And it is leaving farmers, business people, people seeking homes in distress and leaving many issues unresolved. I'd ask if you would use your offer. I know you have to investigate all of that, but I would ask you to commit to really going and having a root branch of this, of this organisation. And I will make contact, and I finish on this point, I will make contact with the members of the Joint Oiretta's Committee on Housing and Local Government, whose body falls into its remit and ask to get Talta Arran in as quickly as they can the new year. But there are big, big problems here that impact on your constituents and on mine. Thank you, Senator Boyne. I completely understand that you're representing people who are being frustrated by this process and who are agitated by it. And I totally understand that, and fair play to you for doing that. What I would say is that, look, in the response, first of all, I did outline, I can't get into the weeds in terms of the day-to-day running. But I can, if Talta Arran have asked of me or of the department in terms of how they can improve efficiencies, we're there for that. But look, they are onboarding staff at the moment that are in training phases. I would really hope that when that onboarding is completed and when the training is completed, that we will see further efficiencies. And I also reference a lot of the operating changes that they are making. They're carrying out revised procedures in terms of ensuring that they don't become a bottleneck in the process. So there is work ongoing there. I'd ask for a bit of patience. I know you brought this up in February as well. But just to see how that onboarding goes, how the training goes, and give Talta Arran a chance to ensure that they can work out a lot of those issues. Thanks. Got that, Arran.