HC Deb 18 July 1905 vol 149 cc1072-3
MR. MURPHY (Kerry, E.)

I beg to I ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can state the date of the purchase by the Congested Districts Board of the Cragg and Ardcrone Farms, county Kerry, the purpose for which the lands were acquired, and the use made of the farms by the Board up to the present time.

MR. WALTER LONG

I answered each of these inquiries in reply to the hon. Member's Question of April 4th † last. † See (4) Debates, csliv., 318.

MR. MURPHY

; What use made of the farms at present?

MR. WALTER LONG

I stated the other day that the Congested Districts Board were using them for migration purposes. They are doing their best to convert uneconomic into economic holdings—though the process may be a slow one.

MR. FLAVIN

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the farms are now being merely used for grazing purposes?

MR. WALTER LONG

The Board can only carry out its policy by degrees, and it surely is not necessary that farms should be derelict all the time the operation is going on.