CAPTAIN CRAIGI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland in the case of how many estates in Ireland have agreements for sale under the Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act, 1903, been lodged; in how many have the sales been completed and purchase money allocated; and in how many cases of agreements lodged so far back as 1904 are the sales still not completed.
§ MR. BIRRELLAgreements for sale under the Act of 1903 have been lodged in respect of 4,727 estates, and advances have been made in respect of 1,494 of these estates. The Estates Commissioners inform me that the sales have been completed in nearly all the cases in respect of which agreements were lodged in 1904. It would not be possible to state precisely how many of the latter cases are still outstanding 1652 without a minute investigation of the Commissioners' records, which would occupy a considerable time.