§ MR. GINNELLI beg to ask Mr. Attorney-General for Ireland if he will explain how the statement of the Estates Commissioners that they can exercise no discretion as regards price in cases of sale within the zones is to be reconciled with the decision in the Blake-Foster case, which was to the effect that they did possess and had properly exercised such a discretion; and will the Commissioners be instructed to apply the rule in that case to all cases of excessive price and of mala fides.
§ THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. CHERRY,) Liverpool, ExchangeThe decision in the case of the Blake-Foster Estate established only that the Estates Commissioners were entitled to refuse to declare any particular lands an estate on the ground that the annuities on advances for the purchase of holdings proposed to be comprised in the estate could not be duly paid, or on the ground that the holdings were congested and required improvement, and that the boundaries were confused. If, however, a holding, under a judicial tenancy is included in lands declared by the Commissioners to be an estate for the purpose of the Act, then, provided the price comes within the zones, the Commissioners hold that they have no discretion as to the price and are bound to make the advance.