§ Mr. FETHERSTONHAUGHasked the Secretary to the Treasury what is the approximate profit made during the past financial year by the Treasury by receiving in cash the purchase instalments under the Irish Land Purchase Acts, and with such cash redeeming the stocks issued since 1891 to the selling landlords (Guaranteed Land Stock and Irish Two and Three-quarter per Cent. Land Stock) at a discount, which during the past year has averaged over 20 per cent.?
§ Mr. MASTERMANNo profit is made by the Treasury by the investment of the Sinking Fund instalments under the Irish Land Purchase Acts. As staged on 18th March last, in answer to a question by the hon. Member for the Enfield Division, any benefit arising from the purchase of stock at a discount with these instalments accrues to the tenant purchasers.
§ Mr. DUFFYasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if the Estates Commissioners 1138W have declined to take over from the Congested Districts Board the Wakely estate. Mount Shannon, county Clare; and will he explain the reasons which induced the Commissioners to arrive at such a decision?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThis estate is the subject of proceedings for sale before the Estates Commissioners direct by the owner to the tenants under the Irish Land Act, 1903, and will be dealt with in its order of priority.
§ Mr. DUFFYasked the Chief Secretary whether he received a copy of a resolution passed by the Glenamaddy, county Galway, board of guardians, calling his attention to the state of unrest which exists in the district owing to the attitude taken up by a number of the local landlords in regard to the sale of their properties; whether he is aware that Mr. Johnstone is proceeding at present against his tenants for the recovery of their lands; and, having regard to the special circumstances of the Glenamaddy Union, namely, the state of congestion which exists and the attitude of the landlords in regard to sale, whether he will call the special attention of the Congested Districts Board to the matter so that the compulsory provisions of the Act of 1909 may be applied?
§ Mr. BIRRELLA resolution has been received from the Glenamaddy Rural District Council with regard to the issue of processes for the recovery of rent on the estate referred to. The Congested Districts Board do not propose to take any steps at present in regard to the compulsory acquisition of estates in this district.
§ Mr. PATRICK WHITEasked the Chief Secretary whether, having regard to the need for the distribution of the Kerveguen Estate, county Meath, between local uneconomic holders, the Estates Commissioners will again approach the vendor with an increased offer; whether he will state if the amount already offered will necessitate the imposition of an annuity on the untenanted land equal to that now chargeable on the Brennan portion; and whether the Commissioners, when investigating the title to the Brennan Estate, were supplied with documentary evidence that the two estates were equal partitions of one estate?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Estates Commissioners have communicated to the vendor their preliminary estimate of the amount 1139W which they are prepared to advance for the purchase of these lands. Their estimate, as the hon. Member has already been informed, was fixed after inspection, and they are not prepared to increase it.
§ Mr. LUNDONasked the Chief Secretary if the Estates Commissioners have received a reply from the owner of the lands of Ballynanty, Bruff, county Limerick, as to his willingness to sell the untenanted land which is at present in the hands of a grazier?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Estates Commissioners have not communicated direct with the owner in the matter, but they have directed one of their inspectors to make inquiry when in the neighbourhood, and they await his report.
§ Mr. LUNDONasked the Chief Secretary if any inspection has yet been made on the estate of Stafford Delmege, at Knocklong, county Limerick; are the Commissioners aware that the landlord at the time of sale pledged himself to hand over the untenanted land on the estate to the Commissioners; and, in view of the fact that he has not done so, will steps be taken to refuse an advance on the property until the original agreement be carried out and the land taken up and distributed?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThis estate is the subject of proceedings for sale direct by the owner, and he has included some fifty acres of untenanted lands in the proceedings pending before the Estates Commissioners. The Commissioners anticipate that it will be reached in order of priority during the present year, and when it is being dealt with due inquiry will be made as regards the untenanted land.