A NATIONAL TARGET of eight weeks for both probate and conveyancing is to be set by government. 

The Taoiseach will bring a memo to Cabinet today from the expert group on probate and conveyancing, a group which was identified as necessary in the Housing For All action plan. 

The group was tasked to look at the area in a bid to reduce costs and delays and to make needed housing stock available to market more quickly.

Probate is the legal process to distribute the property and assets left in a dead person’s will.

In February, The Journal reported that delays at Dublin’s Probate Office reached a record high of five months, causing prolonged stress for people waiting on a division of assets to be approved and impacting the housing market. 

The delays have steadily increased after a new way of working was introduced at the start of the Covid pandemic to accommodate remote work for the office, replacing the old face-to-face system. 

Solicitors have called on the Probate Office to reinstate its face-to-face counter service as they continue to deal with upset clients and poor communication from the office. 

The report, which will be published, recommends more digitisation of the processes, a legal change to remove outdated processes and public awareness campaigns around the processes.

In addition, Cabinet will also be asked to approve the establishment of a Building Standards Regulatory Authority.

An expert working group recommended that such a regulator be set up so as to strengthen the oversight role of the State in respect of the design and construction of buildings as well as the use of construction products. 

The establishment of such a body is also aimed at reducing the risk of building failures and recurring defects.

The establishment of this authority will require primary legislation and it will have effective powers of inspection and enforcement and a suite of sanctions.

Until such primary legislation is passed, a Building Standards Agency will be established by order to expedite the development of appropriate governance and management structures, as well as to increase inspection capacity by recruiting competent technical staff to support local authorities.