§ Mr. KEATINGasked the Chief Secretary if he was aware that the rents on the Boyse estate, South Kilkenny, range from 33s. to 38s. per acre; that the rents on the adjoining estates are 14s. to 15s. per acre; that the productive capacity of the former is less than the latter, a large portion of which is flooded at certain periods of the year, and other portions consist of bogs, marsh, and rocks of no agricultural value; that the estate is now in Chancery; and could he instruct the Estates Commissioners to take steps to assist the tenants in their desire to purchase their holdings at a reasonable price?
§ Mr. BIRRELLI have referred this question to the Estates Commissioners, who inform me that this estate is the subject of Chancery proceedings, and that no proceedings are pending before them with respect to it. I am not in a position to say whether the statements in the question with respect to the rental of the estate are correct.
§ Mr. DILLONIs it not a case in which the Estates Commissioners may take the initiative?
§ Mr. BIRRELLI will draw their attention to it.