§ Mr. JOHN MURPHYasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, who was the officer of the Congested Districts Board that inquired as to the purchase of the congested districts of the Kenmare estate, county Kerry; whether hundreds of holdings on this estate were uneconomic; and whether he could explain how the Board could undertake the purchase of an adjoining estate while at the very same time they declined to negotiate in this case on the ground of want of funds?
§ Mr. BIRRELLNo officer of the Congested Districts Board ever inspected the Kenmare estate or any portion of it. As I have already informed the hon. Member, the terms on which the congested portion 2000 of the estate was offered to the Board were not such as they could have accepted even had money been available for the purpose. As regards the concluding portion of the Question, negotiations for the purchase of the Ventry estate, to which the hon. Member presumably refers, had begun before it was decided that, pending an increase in their income, the Board would not undertake any further purchases.