§ MR. JOHN REDMONDI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is in a position to make any further statement as to the progress of the work of re-instatement of evicted tenants in Ireland.
MR. BRYCEI am glad to be in a position to inform the hon. Gentleman that progress has been made in this matter since the discussion in this House on 23rd October. Since that date the Estates Commissioners have received reports from their inspectors in 683 additional cases, and in the same period 129 additional claims have been rejected by them as being untenable. Thirty-five additional evicted tenants have been re-instated, namely, twenty-two by landlords with the aid of grants made by the Commissioners, and thirteen by the Commissioners themselves. This brings the total number of evicted tenants re-instated, or provided with new holdings, up to 577. In addition, arrangements are in progress, and will, it is believed, soon be completed, for the restoration of a large number of evicted tenants upon the Massereene estate in counties Louth and Meath; and arrangements have also been made for the re-instatement of thirty evicted tenants on the Vandeleur estate, county Clare. Both of these were Plan-of-Campaign estates. In sixteen further cases in 1732 which the owners have intimated their willingness to accept the price offered, the evicted tenants will, the Commissioners understand, be re-instated at an early date. The total number of evicted tenants re-instated, or about to be re-instated, is thus 623, exclusive of those on the Massereene estate. The landlords who were referred to on the former occasion as being unwilling to allow an inspection to be made of 444 evicted farms in their possession, are again being addressed by the Commissioners, and up to the present landlords have expressed their willingness to allow an inspection in the case of forty-six of these evicted farms. The Commissioners hope and believe that the majority of the landlords in the remaining cases will also consent to allow an inspection. If it should be thought that the results so far obtained, though substantial, are not as large as might have been desired, it must be remembered that until recently six inspectors only had been engaged upon the work of furthering the re-instatement of evicted tenants. Within the past week the twelve additional recently appointed inspectors have taken up duty in this matter, making eighteen in all now engaged. The Commissioners have reason to believe that with this additional staff the investigation of all outstanding applications of evicted tenants will be completed in six months.