§ MR. DUFFY (Galway, S.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, whether the attention of the Congested Districts Board has been drawn to the state of congestion which exists in the Mount Shannon district notably on the Wakely estate, Scariff, county Clare; whether the Congested 390 Districts Board sought to improve the lot of these tenants by purchasing the untenanted lands on the estate; and whether, in view of the character of the agreements to purchase those lands entered into by some large holders of land in the neighbourhood, he will take such steps as are necessary to prevent the alienation of those lands from the mountain congests in the district.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) The Congested Districts Board received last year a memorial from the tenants on the Wakely estate asking the Board to interfere in the letting of the untenanted lands by the owner. The estate, however, has not been offered for sale to the Board, and they have therefore taken no steps to purchase it.