§ 8. Captain DONELANasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether the Estates Commissioners have declared as an estate for the purpose of sale part of the Earl of Carysfort estate, in the county of Wicklow, covered by purchase agreements signed by the tenants; whether a total of forty tenants in twelve townlands signed purchase agreements, while thirty tenants, including some in every townland refused to accept the landlord's terms and did not sign agreements; whether in some of the townlands a majority of the tenants refused to sign; and whether there is any precedent for the Estates Commissioners declaring such an attenuated portion of an estate to be an estate?
§ Mr. BIRRELLIt is entirely a matter within the discretion of the Estates Commissioners what lands they may declare to be an "estate" for the purposes of sale under the Land Purchase Acts. In the present case the sale was a direct sale by the owner to the tenants at prices agreed on between the parties under the Irish Land Act, 1903, and had the Commissioners refused to declare as an estate the lands in respect of which purchase agreements had been lodged they would have deprived over eighty purchasing tenants of the advantages of a sale under that Act, and as the outstanding tenants had not signed agreements to purchase their holdings could not be included in the declared estate. It is open to the outstanding tenants, when they have arranged terms of purchase, to sign purchase agreements under the Land Purchase Acts, and for the Commissioners to declare their holdings a separate estate for the purposes of sale.
§ Captain DONELANMay I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether the course pursued by the Estates Commissioners in this case is not opposed to the principle of the Act of 1903, which contemplated the sale of the estates as a whole?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThere is always a question of degree. The Estates Commissioners have the power of declaring certain holding an estate for the purposes of the Act. As there were eighty who had come to terms with their landlord, the Estates Commissioners felt that in the exercise of their discretion they were justified in declaring a separate estate. They can declare the other so whenever bargains are made with the landlord. Whenever they come to an agreement, if they do, there would be no difficulty in declaring their holdings a separate estate.
§ Captain DONELANIs not this transaction calculated to have a prejudicial effect on the peace and order of the district?
§ Mr. BIRRELLIt might have a bad effect on the peace and order of the district if those eighty tenants who were willing to buy could not be put in possession of their holdings.