§ 64. Mr. JAMES O'KELLYasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether, as the Land Commission have formulated a scheme for the purchase of the town of Strokestown, and as the landlord, Mrs. Mahon, has agreed to redeem the intervening interests of middlemen by paying them in cash the full value of their interests as stated in that scheme, and as the middlemen's leases are for houses and plots only, which are neither mainly agricultural nor pastoral, and cannot be classed as estates for the purpose of a separate sale under the Land Acts, he will state what steps the Government will take to enable the Estates Commissioners to carry out their intentions and declare the occupiers of these houses purchasers on reasonable terms?
§ The CHIEF SECRETARY for IRELAND (Mr. Birrell)This estate is the subject of proceedings for sale direct by the owner to the tenants under the Irish Land Act, 1903, and includes certain holdings in the town of Strokestown, some of which are sub-let. When dealing with the property the Estates Commissioners estimated the value of the intervening interests, and notified to the vendor of the estate the amounts which they would be prepared to advance to the sub-tenants on the security of the premises, to purchase the holdings as direct tenants, provided the intervening interests were redeemed by the vendor and purchase agreements were signed by the present subtenants as direct tenants, and lodged with the Commissioners, the difference between the purchase money and the sums which the Commissioners could advance (having regard to the security) to be lodged in cash by the purchasing tenants. In certain cases the owners of the intervening interests have refused to sell at 1265 the amount fixed as the value of their interests, and the Commissioners will not make any advance to the middlemen to purchase these holdings which will be excluded from the sale under the Land Purchase Acts.