§ MR. GINNELLTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if he will ascertain and state the date of origin and nature of the tenancy alleged to be held by Eugene Ballesty in his mother's farm on the Malone estate, Westmeath, towards the purchase of which the Estates Commissioners have offered to advance to him £3,000; when did that land cease to be held on the eleven-months grazing system; how many other grass farms does that Ballesty family hold; what is their aggregate acreage; how many uneconomic holdings on the Malone estate have been sold without enlargement to the tenants; and, whether, with a view to relieving congestion, he will ask the Commissioners to treat the alleged tenancy as spurious, withdraw their offer of £3,000, and refuse to sanction any sale of the grass farm in question except for distribution.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) The Estates Commissioners have ascertained that a yearly tenancy has existed in the holding since 1879. The Commissioners are not aware when it ceased to be held on the eleven-months grazing system or how many grass farms the Ballesty family hold. A number of small holdings on the Malone estate have not been enlarged. The Commissioners see no reason for holding that the tenancy in question is spurious, or for altering the ruling which they have already made in the matter.