§ MR. JAMES O'CONNOR (Wicklow, W.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if he can state the number of evicted tenants in the county of Wicklow (West Division) on 1st January, 1904; how many of them have applied to the Estates Commissioners for restoration to their former holdings; how many of them have been restored to their holdings; and whether 1286 any of them have been provided with farms on untenanted land.
MR. BEYCEThe Estates Commissioners inform me that their records are not kept by Parliamentary divisions, but by counties. The Commissioners have no information as to the number of evicted tenants in county Wicklow, but they have received applications from seventy-eight persons seeking reinstatement as evicted tenants in that county. Up to the present, four applicants have been restored to their former holdings, but none have been provided with holdings elsewhere.
§ MR. JOHN REDMOND (Waterford)Will the right hon. Gentleman be able before the House rises to give any further information as to the action of the Estates Commissioners in regard to the reinstatement of evicted tenants?
MR. BRYCEI am afraid it will not be possible for me to do so. I saw one of the Commissioners the other day and he told me the work was proceeding rapidly, but he was afraid it would not be possible to go into details.
§ MR. JOHN REDMONDHas the progress been considerably accelerated since the question was last before the House?