§ Mr. VINCENT KENNEDYasked how many evicted tenants were on the Crook- 488W enden and Casey estate, county Cavan, and how many have been restored or dealt with; how many grass farms are on this estate; and have they been inspected with a view to purchase?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Estates Commissioners have received seven applications from persons seeking reinstatement as evicted tenants on this estate. Five of these do not come within the provisions of Section 2 (1) (d) of the Irish Land Act, 1903, or Section 2 (a) of the Evicted Tenants Act, and the remaining two have been noted for consideration in the allotment of untenanted land. The Commissioners are in negotiation with a view to acquiring certain lands on the estate for distribution, but at this stage of the negotiations they do not consider it desirable to give further particulars.
§ Mr. VINCENT KENNEDYasked what is the present position of the tenants on the Crookenden and Casey estate, county Cavan; when did they sign their purchase agreements; when will their holdings be vested in them; and how many estates have to be dealt with before this estate will be reached?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Estates Commissioners inform me that the owners proposed, in the first instance, to sell this estate direct to the tenants under the Irish Land Act, 1903, and purchase agreements signed by a number of the tenants were lodged on dates varying from May, 1904 to July, 1907. Subsequently the proceedings for sale were changed to a sale to the Commissioners under Section 6 of the Act, and the Commissioners purchased the property. The estate is a congested one, and a scheme of rearrangement is in course of preparation. Meanwhile the lands cannot be vested in the tenants. No question of priority arises as the estate has been vested in the Commissioners and the purchase money paid.