§ *M.R. DOOGAN () Tyrone, E.I beg to ask Mr. Attorney General for Ireland whether he is aware that numbers of tenant farmers throughout Ireland, and particularly in the Altmore district of Tyrone, are excluded from the benefits of the Land Acts, either in consequence of joint tenancies or the existence of reversionary leases; and whether the Government will amend, the law, and thereby save these classes of tenants from eviction, I because of their inability to continue paying their present unreduced rents.
§ MR. ATKINSON (for Mr. G. W. BALFOUR)The hon. Member is under a misapprehension. Joint tenants are not excluded from the benefits of the Land Acts; their case is expressly provided for by Section 5, Sub-section 3 of the Land Act of 1896. The Government have no information as to the number of cases to which those provisions apply, and further legislation on the subject is not necessary, and will not, therefore, be introduced.
§ *MR. DOOGANArising out of the answer, may I ask if the right hon. Gentleman is aware that the courts have decided that joint tenants holding under leases are excluded from the benefits of the Land Act, while ordinary joint tenants are only to be dealt with at the discretion of the Commissioners?
§ MR. ATKINSONI must ask for notice of that question.
§ MR. FLAVINAre we to understand from the right hon. Gentleman that joint tenants can have a second judicial rent fixed without the consent of the landlord? Have they a right to go into the court?.
§ [No answer was given.]