HC Deb 12 December 1919 vol 122 cc1876-7

(3) Section twenty-nine of the Irish Land Act, 1909, shall apply to any land resold to such men as aforesaid in like manner as if the land were a congested estate.

Mr. E. KELLY

I beg to move, after Sub-section (3), to insert the words (4) The power of acquiring held for the purposes of this Act shall not be exercised after the expiration of two years from the passing of this Act. The general framework of this Bill follows the framework of the Evicted Tenant Court. The maximum amount which can be advanced is the same in each case, and in our discussions yesterday on the Committee stage the precedents which were afforded by the Evicted Tenants Act were frequently held up by the Government as a sort of model which might well be followed in the drafting of this Bill. This Bill falls into two halves. The first authorises the Land Commission to acquire land for the purpose of giving that land in the form of economic farms to soldiers, sailors, and members of the Air Force, and the second part authorises the Local Government Board to build labourers' cottages and to attach labourers' allotments to those cottages, and to give the cottages and allotments to the same classes of men. When we turn to the provisions of the Bill which regulate the operations of the Local Government Board, we find in Clause 4, Sub-section (4, d), that the power of acquiring land shall not be exercised by the Board after the expiration of three years from the passing of this Act. Two years was considered by the Government sufficient in the original drafting of the Bill, but in deference to the views expressed by hon. Gentlemen representing Ulster Unionist constituencies the period was enlarged to three years. If those hon. Gentlemen think a period of three years is a reasonable period in which to allow soldiers and sailors to apply for the allotment of farms from the Estate Commissioners, 1 should be glad to meet them in that respect, and to substitute three years for the term of two years in my Amendment. My Amendment will impose upon the Estates Commissioners the same time limit that the Local Government Board have already confessed in the actual terms of this Bill to be sufficient for them. Secondly, it will follow the precedent of the Evicted Tenants Act. Two years which was considered a reasonable time for evicted tenants to apply for allotments on untenanted land to which they had any claims. Two years was found by the Estates Commissioners to be a very useful period, and afforded them a ready answer to applicants who might perhaps not be very desirable applicants for allotments of land. We find that in ordinary practice the best and bona-fide applicants will know about this Act and will apply promptly, and not wait five or six years. It is undesirable that these special and wholly exceptional powers should be conferred upon the Estates Commissioners without the House fixing a time limit for the exercise of those powers. If my Amendment or some modification if it is not accepted the result will be that the Estates Commissioners will have power for all time to acquire land and to give it to ex-soldiers and ex-sailors who have served in the recent War. It is not desirable that they should have these powers. Let us give them these powers for three years, and if the Estates Commissioners at, the expiration of that period can satisfy the House that it is necessary to continue those powers, let them do so.

Amendment not seconded.