§ Mr. CRUMLEYasked the Chief Secretary if the property of the Marquess of Ely in county Fermanagh had been sold to the tenants; if so, have the Estates Commissioners acquired the untenanted land on this property; will this untenanted 2008W land be available for evicted tenants and for the enlargement of uneconomic holdings on the estate; and will he see that no portion of the demesne lands or other untenanted land on the estate be given to graziers or to other tenants already in possession of economic holdings?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe tenanted portions of this estate are being sold direct to the tenants under Section 1 of the Irish Land Act, 1903, and the holdings have not yet been vested in the tenants. The owner has instituted proceedings for the sale of certain untenanted lands on the estate to the Estates Commissioners, who have not yet acquired these lands, and are not in a position to make any further statement on the subject at present.
§ Mr. O'SHAUGHNESSYasked whether the Estates Commissioners have taken any steps to acquire the untenanted lands at Newtown, near Askeaton, county Limerick, on the Hewson estate, for the evicted tenants, small holders and their sons, and labourers in the locality; whether the landlord is willing to sell to them those lands under the Land Purchase Acts; and whether there is a likelihood of a sale taking place soon?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Estates Commissioners cannot identify the lands of Newtown as being included in the Hewson estates at present pending for sale under the Land Purchase Acts.
§ Mr. O'SHAUGHNESSYasked whether the representatives of Dudley O'Grady have expressed their willingness to the Estates Commissioners to sell to them the untenanted lands of Ballynorth, in the county of Limerick, under the Land Purchase Acts; what is their interest in the lands; and whether, in the event of their being able to prove title to them, the Estates Commissioners will purchase them for the evicted tenants, small farmers and their sons, and labourers in the district?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Estates Commissioners have recently received a communication from the solicitors for the owner of this estate stating that they were now in a position to negotiate with the Commissioners for the sale of the estate, and the matter is at present under consideration.
§ Mr. HACKETTasked whether the Estates Commissioners are aware that Colonel Trant, Dovea, Thurles, county Tipperary, has offered for sale, by private treaty, his untenanted lands situated at 2009W Killaraha, Kill, and Clondoty, on terms which provide for the immediate payment of a bulk sum and an annual rent per acre for each holding; whether the Estates Commissioners have received a memorial from adjoining tenants on Colonel Trant's estate at Ballinahow, complaining of the congested state of their holdings; and whether, in view of this fact, as well as the number of congested holdings in this district, the Estates Commissioners will take immediate steps to acquire these untenanted lands with a view to remedy the congested state of the district?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Estates Commissioners have no information as to the statements in the first paragraph of the question. They have received the memorial referred to in the second paragraph, and are in communication with the memorialists on the subject.