MR. P. A. MCHUGHI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that untenanted lands, which might be used for the enlargement of uneconomic holdings, are being disposed of by the Land Judge in Ireland without regard to the intentions of Parliament in passing the Land Act of 1903; that the orders of the Land Judge, being judicial acts, are beyond the control of the Irish Government; and will he state what 91 steps, if any, the Government has taken to give effect to the Resolution unanimously adopted by this House on April 13th, 1904, in reference to the winding up of the business of the Land Judge's Court in Ireland in the interest of all concerned.
MR. BRYCEI have referred this Question to the Land Judge, who informs me that his primary duty is to dispose of all lands for sale in his Court to the best advantage of the parties interested. It is, he states, not the ease that untenanted lands are being disposed of by him without regard to the intentions of Parliament as expressed in the Act of 1903. On the contrary, a considerable quantity of un-tenanted land has already been sold to the Estates Commissioners under Section 7 of that Act, and the Commissioners are considering the question of purchasing other estates comprising untenanted lands which are for sale in the Court. As to the concluding part of the Question, I beg to refer to my replies to similar Questions put by the hon. Member for North Westmeath on March 22nd,† when I made a full statement of the proceedings of the Land Judge in winding up the business of his Court.