§ MR. FETHERSTONHAUGHTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether the Estates Commissioners have acquired or agreed to purchase any untenanted lands on the estate of the Marquis of Ely in Fermanagh; and, if so, what is the acreage thereof; and will the Estates Commissioners, in dealing with the untenanted lands, consider the claims of evicted tenants of the county, inasmuch as there is very little land in the county that could be acquired under the Evicted Tenants Act.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) Proceedings have been instituted under the Irish Land Act, 1903, for the sale of over 700 acres of untenanted land on this estate to the Estates Commissioners, but the Commissioners are not yet in a position to enter into a formal agreement to 1383 purchase. If the Commissioners acquire the land, they will consider in its allotment the applications of the evicted tenants in County Fermanagh who have been noted as suitable.