§ MR. MAURICE HEALYI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can state the date on which the request issued by the Land Judge under s. 40 of the Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1896, in the matter of Hassett's estate, was lodged with the Land Commission; whether the valuer appointed by the Land Commission to inspect the lands completed his inspection early in January last; whether the Land Commission have since furnished their report to the Land Judge, and, if so, when; and, if not, will he explain why, and what has been the cause of the delay; and whether the Receiver has meanwhile stopped the abatement of rent always hitherto allowed to the tenants, and is availing himself of the delay to take proceedings for rent.
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. G. W. BALFOUR,) Leeds, CentralThe request of the Land Judge in Hassett's estate was lodged with the Land Commission on the 29th of July, 1898, the eve of the vacation. The report of the inspector was received on the 26th of January, and the report of the Land Commissioner was transmitted to the Land Judge on the 19th of June. The character and circumstances of the estate, which comprises about 3,700 acres in the occupation of about 75 tenants, much of the land being held in undivided shares, and many of the holdings being sub-divided or sublet, interposed many difficulties in the preparation and making of the report prescribed by the 40th section, while the intervention of the vacation and the pressure of business arising under the Land Purchase Acts necessarily delayed the completion of the report. I am informed there is no Court 448 Receiver over this estate. I have no knowledge of the matters referred to in the last paragraph.