§ MR. T. M. HEALYasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Is it the fact that the Recorder of Galway last month granted to Mr. Marcus Lynch a decree of ejectment against Michael Carter, of Barna, from his holding of six acres, although the rent was fully paid up; that the cause of the proposed eviction is the fact that the tenant, who holds from a middleman, got his rent reduced in the Land Court from £8 2s. 2d. to £5, this being less than the middleman paid the head landlord; that though the tenant has always paid the fair rent fixed by the Land Commissioners, the county court now holds that to escape eviction he is bound to pay the higher rent due by the middleman, in spite of the operation of the Land Act; are the Government aware that analogous cases have previously occurred in county Waterford and elsewhere; do they propose to take any steps to prevent the nullification of the Land Act by such proceedings; and, 1197 is it intended to lend the forces of the Crown to the landlord to evict Carter, whose "fair rent" is fully paid, and who has complied with all the conditions of his judicial tenancy under the Land Act?
THE CHIEF SECRETARY (Mr. JOHN MORLEY)The Question of the hon. and learned Member has reference to a subject which, no doubt, as an abstract one, is of importance to tenants holding under middlemen; but in this particular instance I am informed that the tenant has appealed, and the legal rights of the parties depend upon the result of the appeal, which will be disposed of next month.