MR. MEAGHEHI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that 711 purchase agreements have been signed by a majority of tenants on the Wandesforde Castlecomer estate, and that a number of the tenants, though signing, have expressed requests to have their farms inspected by the Estates Commissioners so that the Government may be able to see the value of the holdings before the money is advanced; and whether the Estates Commissioners will see that these requests are acceded to, and will, on visiting the estate, take into consideration the case of those tenants who have not as yet signed but are anxious to buy on terms fixed by the Estates Commissioners.
§ MR. BIRRELLThe Estates Commissioners inform me that the majority of the purchase agreements in this ease were lodged in February, 1907. Before advances are made the holdings will be inspected in all cases not within the zones, and the holdings of the tenants who have not signed agreements to purchase will also be inspected, in order that the Commissioners may be in a position to decide whether the action of those tenants was reasonable.