§ Mr. J. P. FARRELL (Cavan, W.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland if he has received a copy of Resolutions, adopted at a meeting of the Oldcastle Board of Guardians on 6th April, unanimously calling for such an extension of the powers and functions of the Congested Districts Board as will permit that Board to purchase estates, consisting of large grass farms which could be easily subdivided into small holdings and on which tenants, whose sons and daughters are now compelled to emigrate to America, could be planted, and so relieve the poverty-stricken congested areas as well as the small towns of Ireland; and whether such powers and functions can be conferred without any further legislation; and, if so, will he inquire of the Congested Districts Board whether such a scheme could be advantageously undertaken?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURI have received a copy of the Resolution referred to. The Congested Districts Board possess power to buy land and settle thereon persons resident in congested districts, but the Board have no power to improve the condition of the population outside a congested district, and no part of the Oldcastle Union is in the neighbourhood of such a district. 1368 The Land Bill contains a provision for increasing the means at the disposal of the Congested Districts Board for the purchase of lands and their resale to tenants, and for purposes of migration.