§ MR. JOHN ROCHEI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can state the date upon which the Congested Districts Board agreed to purchase the Longworth estate, Oat field, county Galway; and when may the tenants upon and surrounding it, whose holdings are uneconomic, expect this land to be divided amongst them.
§ MR. BIRRELLThe Congested Districts Board agreed to purchase this estate in November 1903. The question of distributing the lands has been postponed, pending the Report of the Royal Commission on Congestion upon the question of enlarging the Board's powers in regard to the allocation of land to tenants in non-congested districts, whose holdings do not exceed £10 in value. At present the Board's powers in such respect are limited to holdings under £5 valuation.