§ MR. O'DOWD (Sligo, S.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that tenants, or their successors in title, who sub-let before 1881, and who own less than seven-eighths of their holdings, are not permitted to enter the Land Courts to have fair rents fixed; and, if so, what steps the Government propose to take with the object of removing this disability.
(Answered by Mr. Bryce.) I am advised that the statement of the law in the Question is quite correct. The policy of the Irish Land Acts has always hitherto been to confine the privilege of having fair rents fixed to occupying tenants, and to exclude middlemen from these provisions. Any alteration in the law, such as the hon. Member suggests,
See (4) Debates, cliv., 226–7.824 would involve a complete change in this policy.