§ Mr. FETHERSTONHAUGHasked the Chief Secretary what amount of cash will be available in the present year for sales of land in Ireland under the Irish Land Act, 1909; have any agreements for sale under the Act been lodged; and, if so, what is the amount of purchase money applied for under the said Act down to 1st April, 1910?
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§ Mr. BIRRELLNo cash will be required for voluntary sales which may be carried out under the Act of 1909, seeing that the vendors are to be paid in stock. Agreements for sales by landlords to tenants, representing a purchase money of £208,603, have been lodged under the Act.
§ Mr. FETHERSTONHAUGHasked the Chief Secretary, as regards future sales of land under the Irish Land Act of 1909, what amount of cash will this year be at the disposal of the Congested Districts Board for paying the purchase money of estates voluntarily sold to them if any, and estates they may compulsorily acquire; does he anticipate that any greater sum will be available in 1911 for these purposes; will it be open to the Congested Districts Board, after taking proceedings for sale by compulsion, to abandon them if the price is fixed on appeal at a figure higher than they like, as happens under the Evicted Tenants Act; and, in such event, will the landowner proposed to be expropriated be left to bear his own cost of the successful appeal as to value?
§ Mr. BIRRELLVoluntary sales under the Irish Land Act, 1909, will be financed by paying of the owners in stock, not cash. I am not in a position to make any definite statement as to the amount of cash which will be at the disposal of the Congested Districts Board this year or next, but it is estimated that for the current year a sum of£500,000 will be available to the Board for the completion of pending purchases under the Irish Land Act (1903) and for compulsory purchases under the Act of 1909. I cannot advise the hon. and learned Member as to the points raised in the concluding portion of the question.