HC Deb 02 April 1903 vol 120 cc920-1
MR. JOHN REDMOND (Waterford)

I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether the Land Bill contains any provisions to enable future tenants and caretakers to purchase their holdings.

MR. WYNDHAM

Future tenants are tenants whose tenancies were created since the passing of the Act of 1881. If they are tenants of holdings to which the Land Law Acts apply—that is to say, broadly, agricultural, or pastoral holdings—they will be entitled to purchase under Clause 1 (1) (a), or, by agreement and sanction, under 1 (1) (b). The words in the Bill "to which the Land Law Acts apply" must not be interpreted as meaning "to which the fair rent provisions of the Land Law Acts apply." Many of the provisions of the Land Law Acts apply to future tenants. Caretakers have no tenure or rights as such. If, however, they happen to have been evicted from holdings to which the Land Law Acts apply within twenty-five years before the passing of the Act they will be entitled under Clause 2 (1) (d) to advances for the purchase of parcels of land up to £500, or in special cases £1,000. It is probable that a large number of caretakers come within this class.