§ MR. FLYNN (Cork, N.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether the Estates Commissioners are aware that the tenants on the Hill, otherwise Del Re, estate, Kilcoleman, Doneraile, county Cork, signed the purchase agreements in May, 1906, and, consented to pay interest at 4 per cent. on the purchase money on the understanding that the transaction would be completed within six or twelve months, whereas it is not yet completed; and whether, in view of the burdensome nature of the interest, the Commissioners will take steps either to complete the sale immediately or to reduce the interest to the normal rate of 3½per cent.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) The agreements for the sale in this case were lodged with the Estate Commissioners in August 1906, and some considerable time must elapse before the estate reaches its turn to be dealt with. The rate of interest in lieu of rent is a matter of arrangement between the parties, and the Commissioners are bound by statute to collect 657 the interest mentioned in the purchase agreement. The Commissioners have no power to reduce the rate of interest, and they do not consider that they would be justified in taking the case out of its proper turn.