§ MR. M. HEALY (Cork)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been called to the fact that, under the provisions of the Land Purchase Bill as it now stands, the barony of Cork, being the portion of the county of the City of Cork outside the borough boundary, is excluded from the scope of all land purchase transactions; whether he is aware that this extensive area, consisting of the old liberties of Cork, and extending in some directions over seven miles from the city, is a purely agricultural one, and, though within the county of the city, is, for all fiscal purposes, cut off by statute from the borough and united with the County of Cork; and whether the Bill is drawn in this manner through inadvertence or by design?
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. MADDEN, Dublin University)I am obliged to the hon. Member for calling attention to the position of the old liberties of Cork. It is the desire of the Government to extend the benefits of the Land Purchase Bill to all districts in Ireland which are of an agricultural character. Inquiries will be made before the Committee stage of the Bill as to the possibility, consistently with fiscal arrangements, of including the district in question within the County of Cork.