§ Mr. SCANLANasked the Chief Secretary whether his attention has been directed to the request of the tenants on the Verschoyle Estate, near Ballina, that the estate should be purchased by the 1503 Congested Districts Board; whether he can state if the landlord has given on lease or otherwise to his bailiff, who has already a large holding of land, a considerable area of bog land which tenants of small, congested, and uneconomic farms desired to have divided amongst them; and whether, in the circumstances, the Congested Districts Board will take immediate steps to acquire this estate compulsorily?
§ Mr. BIRRELLCommunications have been received by the Congested Districts Board from the tenants asking them to purchase this estate. The Board wrote to the agent with a view to negotiating for the sale of the estate through them, but so far the estate has not been offered to the Board. The Board have no information as to the alleged disposal of the bog land by the owner. They have not considered the question of acquiring the estate compulsorily.