§ MR. CHARLES DEVLIN (Galway)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been directed to the action of the Congested Districts Board in the matter of the Brownville Estate, recently purchased by that body; and whether he will explain why the Board has distributed the untenanted land on that estate amongst persons living more than ten miles distant, though there are occupiers living in the vicinity on uneconomic holdings; and why the Board intend putting up for sale one of the houses which they have built on the estate.
(Answered by Mr. Walter Long.) The Board purchased this estate for the benefit of persons from congested districts, who will be migrated to it. There is no power to allot any of the land to neighbouring tenants who do not reside in a congested district. None of the land has yet been distributed. Brownville 606 House, which the Board propose to sell as a residential property, is not suitable for a small landowner. The Board did not build this house; it was bought with the estate.