§ MR. THOMAS O'DONNELL (Kerry, W.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether the Estates Commissioners have received from the tenants on the estate of W. L. Marshall, Callinaferry, county Kerry, a document stating that they were unable to pay the prices they had agreed on for the purchase of their holdings; whether, at the signing of the agreements, the agent refused to allow the tenants to submit them to their solicitor; whether 56 writs were served, since the signing of the agreements, on some of the tenants for old rents and arrears; whither non-judicial tenants were got to sign agreements making them judicial tenants at the time of the sale, and without any reduction in rent; and whether a thorough investigation will be made before any money is advanced for the purchase of this estate.
(Answered by Mr. Bryce.) An originating request in respect of the sale of this esta'e has been lodged with the Commissioners. The estate has not yet been inspected. The Estates Commissioners have no information as to what took place between the landlord and the tenants upon or subsequent to the signing of the agreements for purchase. On the 8th November last the Commissioners received a letter on behalf of the tenants, stating that they repudiated the agreements already signed by them. The matter will be fully and carefully considered by the Commissioners when the estate is being dealt with by them.