§ MR. MAURICE HEALYI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether the Irish Land Commission still persist in the practice of having Fair Rents in many districts fixed by one lay Assistant Commissioner; when this practice was first adopted, and what its object is; whether it was adopted by the Land Commission of their own notion, or in consequence of any difficulty in obtaining Treasury consent to the number of Sub-Commissioners necessary to allow of each Sub-Commission being constituted with two lay Assistant Commissioners; on what principle the districts in which this practice is adopted are selected; what happens when there is a difference of opinion either on law or fact between the lay and the legal Assistant Commissioners; and whether, in view of the fact that the practice of having only one Assistant Commissioner is strongly objected to both by landlord and tenant, and that it has been condemned by the Fry Commission, the Land Commission will now revert to the long-established practice of having two Assistant Commissioners?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURI am informed by the Land Commissioners that the practice referred to in the Question still exists in seventeen wings of Sub-Commissions. It was first adopted about two years ago, its object being to 494 avoid unnecessary expense and waste of the public funds where, in the opinion of the Land Commission, the work could be carried out with equal efficiency by one lay Assistant Commissioner. The practice was adopted by the Land Commission on their own responsibility and in the due exercise of their statutory powers. The districts in which the practice is in force were arranged and the wings were selected by the Land Commission, in the exercise of their discretion. The Land Commission, availing themselves of their experience in the administration of the Land Acts, put the practice in force whenever they considered that it could be safely adopted with due regard to the efficiency of the public service. The Land Commission are only aware of one case in which the legal Assistant Commissioner and the single lay Assistant Commissioner were unable to agree. In this instance the case was reheard before another Sub-Commission, consisting of a legal and two lay Assistant Commissioners. The Land Commission have informed the Irish Government that, owing to communications they have received on the subject from both sides interested, and having regard to the recommendation of the Fry Commission, they have resolved to revert to the practice of having two lay Assistant Commissioners after Easter.