§ MR. D. MACALEESE (Monaghan, N.)On behalf of the hon. Member for West Wicklow (Mr. JAMES O'CONNOR), I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (1) whether he is aware that the Secretary of the 1614 Irish Land Commission has informed Mr. James Byrne, an evicted tenant of the Littledale estate, that the landlord having objected to his application to purchase his holding, no further proceedings could be taken in the matter; (2) whether the Land Commissioners have received an offer of purchase from a man named Ellison; and (3) whether the Commissioners are in communication with Ellison with a view to the sale to that person of the farm from which James Byrne has been evicted?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURThe reply to the first paragraph is in the affirmative. The Commissioners are not in correspondence with Ellison, and no proceedings are pending with a view to the sale to him of the holding from which Byrne was evicted.