§ MR. DUFFY (Galway, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether the De Blaquiere estate, near Tubber, County 358 Clare, has been purchased by the Estates Commissioners; did the estate comprise untenanted land, and how much; and will he state how many tenants and tenants' sons are going to benefit from the purchase.
§ MR. BIRRELLThe Estates Commissioners have made an offer to purchase the estate in question, which includes 400 acres of untenanted land, and the owner has accepted the offer. The untenanted land has been allotted to fifteen persons, of whom fourteen are tenants on or in the neighbourhood of the estate, and one is the son of a tenant on the estate.
§ MR. DUFFYI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that Mr. Thomas Hanley, of Tubber, County Clare, is a small tenant on the De Blaquiere estate, holding an acre and a half of land; whether he applied to the Commissioners for an increase of his holding out of the untenanted lands on the estate purchased by the Commissioners; and will he explain the reasons which induced the inspector to the Commissioners to refuse the claim of this small holder to more land.
§ MR. BIRRELLThe application of Thomas Hanley is under the consideration of the Estates Commissioners, who have referred the matter to their inspector for inquiry and report.