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Fianna Fáil Councillor, John Paul Feeley has condemned increases to be
imposed from the 1st December 2012 by the Property Registration
Authority (PRA) on property transactions some of which will increases
by up to 87%.

‘The PRA are hiking up fees at a time when there is less and less
money available, at a time when people are struggling to get
mortgages, at a time when we are all being asked to be more
competitive. These fee increases are totally unacceptable.’

The PRA comprises the Land Registry and Registry of Deeds and is
responsible for recording all property transactions. The fees proposed
by the PRA were approved earlier this year by the Minister for
Justice, Alan Shatter TD.

‘To give some examples, a property valued at 13,000 now attract a fee
of 125, that will now be 400. Prior to this there were three tiers of
fees up to a property value of 50,000. The lowest fee is now 400.
Prior to this the fee to register a mortgage was 125, that is will now
increase to 175,’stated Feeley who is also a solicitor.

Even the cost basic information from the PRA is increasing by 50% with
the cost of a plain copy folio going from 2.50 to 5.00.

Referring to voluntary transfers, Feeley noted that there is an
ongoing emphasis on getting farmland transferred to young farmers. The
new Fees Order increases the cost of a voluntary transfer from 85 to
130. The State has always advocated the need for property to be
registered in the Land Registry rather than in the old Registry of
Deeds system. The cost of bring property over to the more modern
system has been increased from 85 to 130.

‘At a time when the rest of the economy are cutting costs, when legal
fees are at there lowest in many years, at a time when Government are
calling for more active farmers, the PRA, with the approval of the
Minister for Justice in increasing fees sometimes in the order of 87%.
This is extort under the cloak of legality, it is unacceptable, at the
very least a more moderate level of increase should be introduced
rather than these figures.’