§ MR. WILLIAM O'BRIEN (Cork)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that on the D. A. Boyton estate, at Tully-donnell, County Donegal, the tenant purchasers are obliged to pay, pending the advance of the purchase-money, interest at the rate of 4½ per cent. in lieu of 2¾ per cent., as provided by the Purchase Act of 1903; and can he give any indication how long this extra charge will continue.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) The interest referred to is that payable under Section 35 of the Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act, 1896, from the date of the purchase agreement to the date of the making of the advance, and the rate of interest payable is a matter of agreement between the parties. The Land Commission inform me that there are some 186 tenants on the estate in question, and the rate of interest payable varies 47 in the different cases from 3¾ to 5 per cent. Having regard to the place of this estate in the order of priority, it is not likely that the advance can be made for upwards of a year.