§ Mr. HACKETTasked the Chief Secretary whether he can state if Lisheen Castle and the demesne lands adjoining, on the Lloyd estate at Lisheen, Templemore, were included in the sale of the estate to the tenants; whether he can state the amount of the purchase money; whether the castle and adjoining lands have been resold to a representative of the late owner; and whether he can state the terms upon which they were sold by the Estates Commissioners?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThis estate is the subject of direct sale proceedings under the Irish Land Act, 1903, and the vendor has included 178 acres of demesne lands situated on the townlands of Lisheen and Ballyerk for sale to the Estates Commissioners, and repurchased by him under Section 3 of that Act. Lisheen Castle appears to be on these lands. The matter will be considered by the Commissioners when they are dealing with the estate in its order of priority.
§ Mr. GINNELLasked the Chief Secretary if he will state the number of payers 1950W of annuities and of interest in lieu of rent, respectively, under the Land Purchase Acts at the end of March, 1911; the number of each of these classes against whom legal proceedings of any kind have had to be taken for recovery of arrears during the last twelve months; the number of these cases in which the arrears were not recovered and the loss falls upon the rates through the annual grants otherwise due; and the number of these cases in which the purchase money in excess of value and on inadequate security was advanced by a majority of the Commissioners against the protest of their colleague, the late Mr. Commissioner Finucane?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe number of payers of annuities under the Acts of 1891–6 in the half-year ending 1st November, 1910, was 46,908. The number of payers of annuities under the Acts 1903–9 in the half-year ending 1st December, 1910, was 92,476. The number of payers of interest in lieu of rent in the half-year ending 1st November, 1910, was 166,204. The dates named are the last gale days in the respective cases. It would be mpossible without exhaustive local inquiry to state the number of cases in which legal proceedings for the recovery of arrears were actually taken during the last twelve months. Cases which fall into arrear are at once referred to the local solicitors of the Land Commission for the recovery of the arrears, but in many of these cases payment is made without resort to actual legal proceedings. The records of the Land Commission do not distinguish between cases in which payment is made before or after legal proceedings are actually taken, but the arrears are ultimately recovered one way or another practically in every case. There was no such case as that referred to in the last paragraph of the question so far as the Commissioners are aware.
§ Mr. GINNELLasked why the Estates Commissioners, when dealing with the Pollard-Urquhart estate, Westmeath, refused to hear the congested sub-tenants, ignored their petitions, and refused to communicate as requested with Messrs. Coates and Fanning, who are willing to sell their nonresidential grass farms on that estate for relief of the congestion; from whom did the Commissioner obtain the information that those congested sub-tenants are in occupation of the said grass farms; whether their inspector's report shows that information to be erroneous; how much land, and at what price, Mr. Telson, the occupant and proposed purchaser of 1951W those grass farms, has already bought, under the Land Act of 1903, at Trumro, on the adjoining estate of Lord Longford; whether the Pollard-Urquhart estate is one of those for which a majority of the Commissioners have, against the protest of the late Mr. Commissioner Finucane, agreed to advance a price in excess of its value as ascertained by their own inspectors; what is the amount of that excess; and whether the Member for North Westmeath will be allowed to examine the reports, agreements, and minutes relating to this estate?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Estates Commissioners considered the circumstances of this estate and their inspector's report before sanctioning the advances applied for in the agreements signed by the tenants for the purchase of their holdings. Messrs. Coates and Fanning have not instituted proceedings before the Commissioners for the sale of their lands, of which they are owners in fee simple. The Commissioners have no knowledge of the Mr. Telson referred to in the question as the occupant and proposed purchaser of the lands, but a Mr. Robert Tilson has agreed to purchase for £4,133 his farm of 270 acres on the Earl of Longford's estate, which he holds as judicial tenant. The late Mr. Commissioner Finucane approved of the advances made in the Pollard Urquhart Estate, but, as the hon. Member has already been informed, the Commissioners have no knowledge of the particular cases to which the late Commissioner made a general allusion in his minute appended to their last annual report. That minute has nothing whatever to say to the question of the security of prices agreed on between landlord and tenant.
§ Mr. HAYDENasked the Chief Secretary whether he is yet in a position to state the rateable valuation of the farm now held by the Estates Commissioners, acquired by them from Messrs. Payne on the Pollock estate; and the rateable valuation of the farm given in exchange on the Crofton estate in county Roscommon?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Estates Commissioners inform me that they have not got particulars of the separate Poor Law valuation of the farm referred to, but will make inquiries. As I have already informed the hon. Member, the Poor Law valuation of the lands of Ballybeg allotted to the Messrs. Payne on the Crofton estate is £389.
§ Mr. LYNCHasked the Chief Secretary whether he can state the stage at which 1952W the negotiations over the Reeves estate, Killimer, West Clare, have arrived; and whether, in view of the protracted nature of these negotiations and the frequent delays and disappointments to the tenants, the Congested Districts Board will now forward this matter with all possible despatch?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Congested Districts Board have made a proposal for the purchase of this estate through the Land Judge's Court. The owners are willing to accept the sum offered if the sale can be carried out through the Land Commission, so that the bonus may be secured. A draft agreement has been prepared, and will be submitted forthwith, under which the Board will go into possession of all rents now due and accruing.
§ Mr. STANIERasked what is the amount of money already advanced under the Irish Land Acts, 1903–9, to enable tenants to become their own owners; and what are the further amounts of money already agreed to be advanced under the same Acts to enable tenants to become owners?
§ Mr. BIRRELLUp to the 31st ultimo £42,650,000 has been advanced under the Irish Land Acts, 1903–9, and agreements have been entered into representing a purchase money of £41,800,000 which has not yet been advanced.
§ Mr. LYNCHasked what is the condition of affairs with regard to negotiations for sale of the estate of Mr. Francis W. Hickman, Kilmore, Knock, West Clare; whether, if the landlord be willing to sell, an inspector will be sent down without delay; and whether, if he be unwilling to sell, steps will be taken under compulsory provisions to acquire the land and divide it amongst the tenants who are eligible?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Estates Commissioners instituted proceedings for the acquisition under the compulsory Clauses of the Evicted Tenants Act, 1907, of fifty-six acres of the lands of Kilmore and forty-two acres of the lands of Carrowbane on this estate. The owner lodged objections under Section 2 (1) of the Evicted Tenants Act, and the Commissioners, after hearing them, withdrew from the proceedings with regard to Kilmore. The lands of Carrowbane have been acquired and distributed. The Congested Districts Board received memorials asking them to purchase the estate referred to, and they wrote to the agent with a view to opening negotiations for the sale of the estate 1953W through them, but so far the estate has not been offered to the Board. The question of compulsorily acquiring the estate has not been considered by the Board.