§ MR. SHEEHAN (Cork County, Mid)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether memorials have been received by the Estates Commissioners from the labourers and small landholders on the estate of Sir George Colthurst, at Ballyvourney, claiming that the portion of the estate known as the home farm should be acquired for the purposes of relieving congestion, enlarging the holdings of uneconomic owners, and providing for the needs of the labourers of the locality; is he aware that at several public meetings of all the tenants on the estate resolutions have been unanimously adopted requesting the Estates Commissioners not to declare this property as an estate to be purchased under the provisions of the Land Act until the home farm is acquired for the purposes mentioned; is a portion of the estate actually scheduled by the Congested Districts Board as a congested area, showing that the need for more land for the small tenants is one of undoubted urgency; have the Estates Commissioners received a resolution signed by all the tenants who have not yet entered into purchase agreements, stating they will not sign these until the home farm is vested in the Commissioners; did the Commissioners receive a document from the hon. Member for Mid-Cork, showing that in one instance a sum of money was paid by the estate agents, Messrs. Hussey and Townsend, as an inducement to a tenant to sign his agreement; whether, in view of the Land Purchase Act, this is an invalidating cause in the sale of the estate; and, seeing that the Estates Commissioners have promised the claimants for the distribution of the home farm an opportunity of being heard in support of their contention that Mr. Jeremiah Hegarty has no valid legal tenancy in the place, will there be a public and sworn investigation into all the circumstances surrounding this alleged tenancy of Mr. Hegarty.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) The Estates Commissioners have received the 1082 memorials referred to in the first part of the Question, but they are not aware whether, at several public meetings of all the tenants, resolutions have been unanimously adopted requesting them not to declare the lands to be an estate until such lands have been acquired for the purposes mentioned. Portion of the estate is situated in a congested district. The Commissioners have received what purports to be a copy of a resolution signed by twenty-seven tenants, stating that they will not agree to purchase until the lands in question are given up for division amongst the landless people, of the district. The Commissioners, however, understand that there are more than 100 tenants on the estate who have not yet signed purchase agreements. A letter from the estate agent to the estate bailiff, enclosing a cheque for one of the tenants, has been forwarded to the Commissioners, but they have no information as to the circumstances of the case, and have not formed any opinion in the master. The Commissioners have not promised to hold a public and sworn inquiry into Mr. Hegarty's title to the holding. When they have received the Report of their inspector the Commissioners will consider the nature of Mr. Hegarty's tenancy, and, having made such inquiries as they consider necessary, will deal with the matter according to law.