HC Deb 15 December 1908 vol 198 cc1590-1
MR. GINNELL

I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been directed to the absence of any general scheme for dealing with large peat bogs in Ireland in connection with the transfer of land ownership now in progress and the waste of material of potential value likely to result; whether, when bogs are too large for the requirements of the tenants on an estate, he will consider the desirability of having the ownership of them vested in the councils of the counties or districts in which they are situate; and whether vendors of estates comprising such bogs will in future be required to include the entire bogs in order to make them generally available.

MR. BIRRELL

It would not be possible to devise any general scheme for dealing with turf bogs in Ireland in connection with land purchase. As each estate containing turf bogs comes in for sale a scheme must be prepared to meet the particular circumstances of the case. The Land Commission inform me that in such cases bogs are very seldom reserved to the vendor. I see no reason for departing from the existing system.