§ MR. DELANY (Queen's County, Ossory)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if he can say what were the number of claims which the Estates Commissioners received from evicted tenants in Queen's County since the passing of the Act of 1903; how many of those tenants were restored or got equivalent farms under the Act of 1903; and how many claims were settled under the Act of last session, and how many remain to be dealt with.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) The Estates Commissioners inform me that since the passing of the Irish Land Act, 1903, they have received up to 30th June last 322 applications for re-instatement in Queen's County. Of these 1712 applications 129 have been rejected; in fifteen cases the applicants have been restored by the landlords with the assistance of the Commissioners; thirty-six have been provided by the Commisssioners with holdings on lands purchased by them; and seventy-six applicants have been noted as suitable to be provided with holdings in the event of the Commissioners acquiring untenanted land in the neighbourhood of the former holdings; sixty-six of the applications, which were received since 1st May, 1907, have not yet been considered by the Commissioners. Up to the present, no persons have been provided with holdings in Queen's County under the Evicted Tenants Act, 1907.