§ MR. JOYCE (Limerick)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether under the Land Act of 1903, when estates are being purchased on which there are fishery rights, the claims of fishermen who have been tenants of such fisheries, either as tenants under lease or from year to year, and where such tenancies have been held for a great number of years, in some cases for more than a century, will be duly considered with a view to the purchase of such fisheries on behalf of the fishermen, or, failing such purchase, that their rights will be safeguarded either by granting them a lease or giving them a yearly title, which cannot be disturbed, at a reasonable rent; and whether the attention of the Irish Department of Fisheries and the Land Purchase Commissioners will be called to all such cases and an inquiry held into them if required.
§ MR. BIRRELLThe Land Commission inform me that no case appears to have arisen such as is referred to in the Question. The 99th Section of the Act of 1903 provides that the Act shall not affect sporting rights which are not in the possession or enjoyment of the vendor at the time of sale; and the expression "sporting rights" includes fishery rights. If any question relating to fishery rights should arise in connection with the sale of an estate, the Land Commission will consider the matter in connection with the section quoted and Section 13 of the Act.