§ MR. HAYDEN (Roscommon, S.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland how many applications to the Land Commission by tenant farmers who have purchased their holdings for liberty to sub-divide the same for the purpose of sale or mortgage are now pending; between what dates have the same been received; what period of incubation has to elapse before the Land Commission consider the same; who is responsible for the delay in the department to which such applications are referred; and whether, seeing that it is a common practice to. consolidate several separate holdings in the one vesting order with the result that in any subsequent dealings with any one of such holdings the consent of the Land Commission has to be obtained, steps will be taken to have these sub-divisions expedited, and thus save farmers from the loss caused by the delay in obtaining the consent of the Land Commission.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) The Land Commission inform me that about sixty cases are pending before them in which applications have been made for liberty to sub-divide holdings which are subject to land purchase annuities. Nearly all of these applications were received since 1st January last. The cases are in different stages of inquiry, and are dealt 766 with as rapidly as possible in order of priority. Delay is often caused by the manner in which the applications are presented, resulting in considerable correspondence and difficulty, and by the fact that in many cases local inspection is necessary.