§ MR. NIELDTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether applications under The Land Act (Ireland), 1903, for the sale of properties to tenants, and which have been lodged as far back as November, 1904, have not yet been declared or dealt with; whether, if this be so, what is the reason for the delay which has taken place; and whether he will cause immediate steps to be taken to ensure a decision being announced at an early date.
(Answered by Mr. Bryce.) I am informed by the Estates Commissioners that all applications lodged by vendors up to November, 1904, by which proceedings were originated before them for the sale of lands under The Irish Land Act, 1903, have been considered by the Commissioners, and, save as to two cases, the Commissioners have, in their discretion, provisionally declared, or refused to declare, the lands to be separate estates for the purposes of sale. As to the two cases excepted, in one case no purchase agreements have been lodged by the vendor, and in the other the map which accompanied the originating application did not correspond with the map originally furnished by the vendor to the Commissioners. In the latter case the vendor has been repeatedly requested to explain the discrepancy, but up to the present has failed to do so.