§ Mr. NEWMANasked the Prime Minister whether his attention has been drawn to the total of advances made under the Irish Land Purchase Acts, 1903 and 1909, respectively, to the period ending 31st August last, which shows that under the Act of 1903 a sum of £35,292,216 was advanced, as compared with £36,805, the total advanced under the Act of 1909; and what measures the Government intend to take to remove the consequent deadlock in respect of the transfer of land from landlord to tenant occupiers?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Rules prescribing the procedure and the forms to be used in proceedings under the Irish Land Act, 1909, were not issued until May, 1910. The figures quoted by the hon. Member represent the advances made under the Act between June and the end of August last. In the financial year ended 31st March last the purchase money advanced by the Land Commission amounted to over seven millions, of which over £400,000 was in respect of sales under the Act of 1909.
§ Mr. GINNELLasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he will state the average number of years' purchase of rent, first 1833 and second term respectively, paid by purchasing tenants in Ireland under the Land Purchase Acts of 1885, 1891, 1896, 1903, and 1909, respectively?
§ Mr. BIRRELLNeither the Irish Land Commission nor the Estates Commissioners, in the preparation of their statistics, distinguish between first and second term judicial rents in cases of proceedings under the Land Purchase Acts. In the tables appearing in the Appendix to the Annual Reports of the Irish Land Commission full particulars are given as to the number of years' purchase in all cases where advances have been made by them under the Land Purchase Acts. In the tables appearing in the Appendix to the Annual Reports of the Estates Commissioners similar information is also given both for "zone" and "non-zone" cases. The hon. Member will also find information on the subject in a foot-note appended to House of Commons Paper No. 90 of 1903.
§ Mr. AUGUSTINE ROCHEasked whether Mr. R. E. Hudson, agent to Sir J. Arnott, has signed an agreement to purchase a holding on the Arnott estate, Bandon, which has been in possession of Mr. James Corcoran for over forty-five years; whether Mr. Corcoran paid a yearly rent of £12 for this holding, which the agent proposes to buy over his head for a sum of £141 to be advanced by the Estates Commissioners; whether, seeing that Mr. Hudson states in his purchase agreement that he has been residing on the lands since 1889, inquiries will be immediately set on foot to test the bona fides of this whole transaction; and whether, in view of the policy of land purchase, agents will be assisted to buy up lands which they do not occupy so that they may afterwards let them at a profit rent to tenants?
§ Mr. BIRRELLMr. R. E. Hudson has signed an agreement under the Irish Land Act, 1909, for the purchase of about three and a-half acres of the lands of Coolfadda on the Arnott Estate for the sum of £141. The agreement stated that Mr. Hudson has been residing on, and in occupation of, this holding since 25th March, 1889, and that there is no other person in occupation of it. The Commissioners have no information as regards the other matters referred to in the question, but when the estate is being dealt with in order of priority due inquiries will be made by them.
§ Mr. AUGUSTINE ROCHEasked whether the holding on the Arnott estate, 1834 Coolfadda, Bandon, from which Mr. John Desmond was evicted in 1903, remained unoccupied till the sale of the estate; whether Mr. Craig, a sub-agent on the estate, signed for this holding and now proposes to purchase it; and whether, in face of such conduct, an inquiry will be immediately instituted into the methods by which the sale of this whole estate was carried through?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe estate of Sir John Arnott at Coolfadda is the subject of direct sale proceedings under the Irish Land Act, 1909. James Craig signed an agreement for the purchase of his holding, comprising about six acres, for the sum of £259. The tenancy is stated to have been created in March, 1906. The Estates Commissioners received an application from John Desmond for reinstatement, but ascertained, on inquiry, that the holding was a town park, and had been sub-let to Desmond's mother by a Miss Wheeler, an aunt of Mr. Craig the present occupier. The Desmonds tried to get a rent fixed under the Land Purchase Acts, but the case was dismissed, and the Desmonds were subsequently evicted. Not being a case to which the Land Law Acts applied, the Commissioners had no power to consider John Desmond's application for reinstatement.
§ Mr. O'DONNELLOwing to the peculiar condition of this estate will the right hon. Gentleman make inquires?
§ Mr. BIRRELLI have already made inquiries into the matter. I will inquire again.
§ Mr. DUFFYasked whether any request was addressed by the Congested Districts Board to Mr. Shaw Taylor, of Castle Taylor, Ardrahan, county Galway, in reference to the grazing farm at Shegganagh Kinvarra, containing about 500 acres; was the farm offered for sale to the Board; and, if so, with what result?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Congested Districts Board communicated with Mr. Shaw Taylor with reference to the farm referred to, and were informed that he did not wish to sell it.
§ Mr. DUFFYasked whether any negotiations have taken place between the Congested Districts Board and the agent of the Blake Forster estate at Crushva, Towns, and Mount Scribe, representing the Scottish Insurance Company, in reference to the sale of the property; and, if so, what was the result?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Blake Forster estate, county Galway, has been offered for sale to the Congested Districts Board, and will be inspected as soon as practicable.
§ Mr. DUFFYasked whether the Blake Forster estate, Kinvarra, has been inspected by the Congested Districts Board with a view to purchase; whether the Chief Secretary is aware that the estate is one very congested and the most of it held in rundale; and whether, in view of the condition of this property, he will ask the Congested Districts Board to deal with it immediately?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe estate referred to has not yet been inspected. It will be dealt with as soon as practicable.
§ Mr. DUFFYasked whether the claims of the evicted tenants for the farm of Ballybranagan Kinvarra, and the mansion and lands of Hermitage, Kinvarra, have been considered; and what do the Estates Commissioners propose doing for them?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe lands referred to are included in the estate of Blake Forster offered to the Congested Districts Board, and will be inspected as soon as practicable. Unless the Board acquire the estate they cannot consider the claims of evicted tenants. The Estates Commissioners are unable to identify the evicted tenants referred to from the particulars given in the question.
§ Mr. DELANYasked whether a man named Thomas Abraham, Ballymooney, Tullamore, has applied for an advance of £7,000 to purchase his holding at Ballymooney, King's County, on the Digby, Geashill, estate; whether his brother, Frederick Abraham, has applied for an advance of £3,334 to purchase a farm on the Sandes estate, at Kilcavan, Mountmellick, Queen's County; whether he is aware that both brothers reside at Ballymooney, and work those farms jointly as one farm; and can he say, under those circumstances, whether the Estates Commissioners are prepared to sanction the advances above-mentioned?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThomas and Frederick Abraham have applied for advances for the purchase of their holdings on the Digby and Sandes estates, as stated in the question. The estates have not yet reached their turn to be dealt with, but when so reached the Estates Commissioners will cause due inquiry to be made into the matter referred to by the hon. Member.
§ Mr. HAYDENasked whether he is aware that the estate of George A. Newcomen, situated in the townlands of Carrowcrin, Lisgobbin, Derrycummy, Culleen, and Ballinaboy, in the parish of Kilbride, county Roscommon, has been on offer to the Estates Commissioners for the past four years, and that the Commissioners obtained the consent of the Congested Districts Board under the Act of 1909 to continue negotiations; and if so, whether he can explain the cause of the delay in bringing these negotiations to a termination?
§ Mr. BIRRELLFormal proceedings for the sale to the Estates Commissioners of 629 acres of untenanted land situated on the estate of G. A. Newcomen, county Roscommon, were instituted in January, 1908. The Congested Districts Board have consented under Section 58 of the Irish Land Act, 1909, to the Commissioners entering into an agreement for the purchase of this estate. The estate has not yet been reached in order of priority, but when so reached it will be dealt with as rapidly as possible.
§ Mr. HUGH LAWasked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that negotiations for the sale and purchase of the Downstrands portion of the Marquis Conyngham's estate in county Donegal have been going on for over seven years; that a purchase agreement was come to as far back as May, 1908; that this agreement would have been carried into effect but for delay on the part of the owner in lodging the agreement with the Estates Commissioners within a reasonable time prior to the Act of 1909; and whether, under these circumstances, and in view of the fact that there is untenanted land in this district suitable for the enlargement of holdings, the Congested Districts Board will now proceed at once with the purchase of this portion of the estate?
§ Mr. BIRRELLI would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to his question on this subject on 4th April. The Congested Districts Board recently decided to make an offer for the Downstrands portion of the estate if they were furnished with the necessary particulars to enable a valuation to be made.
§ Mr. LAWMay I ask whether the Congested Districts Board fully considered the circumstances of this particular portion, which is separated from the rest of the estate, and applications for which were forwarded by the tenants seven years ago?
§ Mr. BIRRELLI will consider that case. As I understand, it is that particular portion of the estate which they are prepared to deal with.
§ Mr. SCANLANasked the Chief Secretary what steps the Congested Districts Board have taken or propose to take in reference to the estate of Owen Phibs, D.L., near Collooney, county Sligo, and comprising the townlands of Knoxpark, Carrickneggatt, Ardcotton, and Kilnamonagh; whether he is aware of the fact that the tenants in these townlands petitioned the Board in February 1911, for the purpose of asking the Board to purchase the property in question; if he will state whether the Board have approached Major O'Hara for the sale of his estate, comprising the townlands of Elon, Largon, Kinnagrelly, and Beela, near Collooney; whether Major O'Hara has agreed to sell to the Board; and, if not, what steps the Board intend to adopt?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Congested Districts Board informed Mr. Phibs that they were willing to negotiate for the purchase of his estate, but it has not yet been offered to them. The tenants on this estate petitioned the Board to purchase the property in January, 1910, not in February, 1909, as stated. Proceedings for the sale of the lands of Bella and Kinnagrelly, on the estate of Major C. K. O'Hara, direct from the vendor to the tenants under Section 1 of the Irish Land Act, 1903, are pending before the Estates Commissioners. The estate will be dealt with in. order of priority. The Commissioners cannot identify the lands of Elon and Largon as pending before them for sale under the Land Purchase Acts.