§ MR. ROCHETo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if he will say what was the nature of the order which Mr. Justice Ross made on the 9th inst., in the matter of the Batson Estate in the county of Galway; and whether the Estates Commissioners will inquire into the circumstances of the case with a view to the purchase of the estate by them for the purpose of resale to the tenants, in view of the fact that they alone are prepared to make an offer for the purchase of the whole estate, and that the offer which they are prepared to make comprises an offer of £1,000 more for the grazing land than that which has been made by the mother of the owner who proposes to purchase the grazing land only.
(Answered by Mr. Wyndham.) I stated on Monday last† that as a condition of the agreement entered into with the lessee of the grazing land to which reference is specially made, she undertook
† See page 986.1389 to purchase the same. This agreement was made a year before the passing of the Act of 1903, and the Land Judge has decided that it cannot under the circum-stances be disturbed. In respect of the other grazing lands on the estate, the Court directed the Receiver to prepare a scheme under which they will be distributed among the tenants in such a manner as to provide them all with substantial holdings.