§ MR. GINNELL (Westmeath, N.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if he will ascertain and state, as to the end of June, 1908, the number of agricultural holdings in each county, and in the whole of Ireland, under £10 valuation, purchased without enlargement under the Land Act of 1903; their aggregate area, Poor Law valuation, and price, omitting bonus; the number of the purchasers of these uneconomic holdings in arrear in the payment of their annuities; and the aggregate area of untenanted and non-resi- 1220 dential land in each country, and in the whole of Ireland.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) I am informed that upwards of 47,000 holdings purchased under the Act of 1903 have already been vested in the purchasing tenants, and that in upwards of 110,000 cases purchase agreements have been lodged, but the holdings are not yet vested in the purchasers. The cases are not classified according to Poor Law I valuation, and the particulars asked for in the Question could only be obtained by an examination of each separate purchase agreement. The Estates Commissioners inform me, and indeed it is sufficiently obvious, that they could not undertake this very extensive task without totally disorganising the work of their office. I may however inform the hon. Member that particulars (including tenement valuation) of all cases in which tenant purchasers are in default in the payment of land purchase annuities are shown in the Appendix to the Annual Report of the Irish Land Commission. The area and tenement valuation of the untenanted land in each county of Ireland which is in the occupation of owners will be found in Table I. of Appendix VII. to the Third Report of the Royal Commission on Congestion.