§ 63. Mr. DORISasked whether the Estates Commissioners have received a communication from over forty tenants of uneconomic holdings on the De Clifford 1480 estate, county Mayo, objecting to a sale of any portion of the property except through the Congested Districts Board; whether, in the event of a sale to the Estates Commissioners, the Commissioners will acquire the non-residential and other large farms necessary for enlargement of the uneconomic holdings; whether one tenant, paying £300 a year rent on this estate, owns a large farm on another property which he acquired under the Land Purchase Acts; and what steps the Commissioners and the Board intend taking to relieve the congestion that exists over a large portion of this estate?
§ Mr. RUSSELLThe Estates Commissioners have received a petition from certain tenants in reference to this estate, which is the subject of proceedings for sale to them under the Land Purchase Acts. The owner has accepted the Commissioners' offer to purchase, and is obtaining undertakings from the tenants to purchase their holdings at the prices fixed by the Commissioners. A number of these undertakings have been signed and lodged, but some of the tenants have refused to sign them, and their holdings will be excluded from the lands to be acquired by the Commissioners. One of the tenants has purchased his holding on another property under the Land Purchase Acts. The Commissioners are negotiating for the acquisition of a large farm, and such lands as they may acquire will be utilised in the enlargement of the smaller holdings.