§ Mr. NEWMANasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he will state, with reference to the draft regulations made by the Lord Lieutenant on 17th February, 1911, under Section 23 (8) of the Land Act, 1903, and Section 4 of the Land Act, 1909, what is the amount of net cash, in addition 1082W to the cash which will be required for the bonus and for the purposes of the Labourers Acts, intended to be provided by the Treasury during the coming financial year for the purposes of advances under the Irish Land Purchase Acts?
§ Mr. HOBHOUSEThe amount will be governed mainly by the requirements of the Land Commission for purchase transactions. But it is not practicable at the present moment to form any reliable estimate.
§ Mr. JAMES O'KELLYasked the Chief Secretary whether the Congested Districts Board is prepared to entertain a proposal to sell the lands of Cargins, containing 300 acres of untenanted land, situated on the Drought estate, near Tulsk, county Roscommon; and, in the event of a purchose being effected, will the said lands of Cargins be divided among the small landholders of the district?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Congested Districts Board are prepared to purchase the lands referred to, and, when they become the owners, they will, in the distribution of the lands give consideration, in the first instance, to the claims of the small landholders of the district.
§ Mr. DUFFYasked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that the tenants on the estate of Boland F. C. Thompson, Carramore, Closetoken, Loughrea, signed agreements to purchase their holdings so long ago as September, 1904; and can he indicate the probable time when the Commissioners expect to be in a position to complete the purchase?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe purchase agreements in this estate were lodged in January, 1905. The estate is a congested one, and the Estates Commissioners, with the consent of the owner, altered the proceedings from a sale direct to the tenants to a sale to the Commissioners, so that they might, if possible, be able to carry out a scheme of re-arrangement, and this is at present under consideration.
§ Mr. DUFFYasked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that the estate of Major Rodgers, situate at Seefin, Close-token, Loughrea, comprises a large grazing farm known as the Carraclough Farm; and whether, in view of the need of augmenting the size of some of the small holdings in the neighbourhood, he will represent to the Estates Commissioners the advisability of acquiring this grazing farm before sanction is given to the sale of the agricultural portion of the estate?
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§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Estates Commissioners understand that the owner is now in occupation of the lands referred to, and is willing to sell them for the purposes of distribution. The lands are situate in a congested districts county, and the Commissioners are in communication with the Congested Districts Board, who are making inquiries into the matter.
§ Mr. WILLIAM O'BRIENasked the Chief Secretary if his attention has been called to a meeting of the tenantry of the Eyre-Stack estate at Ballyconry, North Kerry, at which it was alleged that the landlord offered to sell the estate to the Congested Districts Board under the Act of 1903, so long ago as July, 1907, but that, notwithstanding three separate applications from the tenantry, the Congested Districts Board have taken no steps to acquire the estate; if so, why has the Congested Districts Board omitted to take action; and, in any purchases made by the Board, will priority be given to estate voluntarily offered for sale by the landlord in the order of time in which they were offered?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThis estate was offered to the Congested Districts Board in 1907, but they were not in a position to negotiate for its purchase until they were provided with funds under the Irish Land Act, 1909, to carry out the necessary improvements. Since then the Board have entered into negotiations with the landlord; and they are at present awaiting his reply to their latest communication. As regards the present question of priority, I would refer the hon. Member to the Regulations made under Section 4 of the Irish Land Act, 1909.
§ Mr. GINNELLasked the Chief Secretary, in view of the local need for distribution of the untenanted land on the estate of the Barnewell trustees, Pluxtown, county Meath, now awaiting purchase by the Estates Commissioners, if he can say if that land will be distributed before the opening of the approaching emigration season?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Estates Commissioners inform me that the owner has instituted formal proceedings for the sale of these lands to the Estates Commissioners, and they will be dealt with in order of priority.
§ Mr. GINNELLasked what action the Estates Commissioners take when they find a vendor and a group of non-agricultural 1084W proposed purchasers attempting to pass under the Land Act of 1903 a sale of a large grass ranch divided only on paper to evade the limitations and defeat the purposes of that Act; whether the Commissioners have brought under the notice of the Law Officers of the Crown the attempt of this character made with reference to the Rathregan ranch, on the Athlumney estate, near Dunshaughlin, county Meath; and when the Commissioners expect to be in a position to distribute that ranch among the uneconomic landholders and landless descendants of those formerly evicted from it?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe estate referred to was the subject of direct sale proceedings by the owner to the tenants under the Irish Land Act, 1903. Messrs. Wallis and Allen signed purchase agreements to purchase their holdings, but the Commissioners refused to make the advances applied for, and the purchase agreements were dismissed. The Commissioners did not bring these cases before the Law Officers, and as the lands are tenanted, the Commissioners have no power to acquire them as untenanted land for the purposes of distribution.
§ Mr. GINNELLasked the Chief Secretary whether, in view of the intentions of Parliament in passing the Evicted Tenants Act, he will explain why the Estates Commissioners refused, unless the estate is offered for sale, to consider the claims of an unadvised evicted tenant, on the technical ground that it was not lodged on a certain date arbitrarily fixed; and, in view of the prospects of the Hussey estate, county Meath, never coming before the Estates Commissioners for sale, will they investigate the claim of Mrs. Kate Smyth as an evicted tenant, and, if entitled, provide a holding for her on some of the untenanted land in that county?
§ Mr. BIRRELLSection 1 (2) of the Evicted Tenants Act, 1907, limits the purposes of that Act to evicted tenants who made application to the Estates Commissioners before 1st May, 907. Mrs. Kate Smyth did not apply before that date, and the Commissioners have already informed the hon. Member that they are not prepared to have a special inquiry made in her case.
§ Mr. HACKETTasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether the tenants on the agricultural portion of the Dunsandle estate, at Thurles, have agreed to purchase their 1085W holdings; whether the Estates Commissioners will include the town in the purchase and sale of the estate in case the town tenants agree with the owners to purchase their holdings; and whether he can state when this estate will be considered in the order of priority?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe reply to the first paragraph is in the affirmative. No purchase agreements have been lodged for the sale of the town holdings on this estate. If purchase agreements are entered into between the owner and the tenants for the sale of the holdings in question under the Land Purchase Acts, and lodged with the Commissioners, the premises will be inspected in order of priority with a view to estimating the sums which the Estates Commissioners would be prepared to advance on the security of the sites. Having regard to the prior claims of other estates the Commisioners are not at present in a position to say when the turn of this estate will be reached.
§ Mr. HACKETTasked whether the purchase money has been paid and the holdings vested in the tenants on the estate of the Earl of Clonmel, situated at Jessefield, Ballingarry, Graigin-Paudeen, Lisduff, county Tipperary; and whether, if the sale is completed, the tenants were informed that their farms were vested in them?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe lands of Jessefield, Graigin-Paudeen, and Lisduff are included in the estates of the Earl of Clonmel, which are at present pending before the Estates Commissioners for direct sale to the tenants under the Irish Land Act, 1903. These estates have not yet been reached in order of priority, and the holdings have not yet been vested in the tenants.
Mr. BOYLEasked the Chief Secretary whether the attention of the Congested Districts Board has been drawn to the congested condition of the tenants on the property of Mr. John M'Coyne, Bangor Erris; whether he is aware that, although this landlord had formerly agreed with the tenants' representatives to sell, he now refuses to do so; whether he is aware of the conduct of this landlord in pressing for arrears of rent, which his tenants were unable to pay on account of floods and famine conditions prevailing on the estate; whether he is aware that the county court judge, to mark his sense of the treatment of these tenants, has granted a stay of execution against the tenants; whether, in the whole circumstances, the Congested 1086W Districts Board will at once take steps to compulsorily acquire this estate and divide it amongst the tenants, who have all along been willing to offer a reasonable price; and whether, in view of the impending purchase by the Board, any steps will be taken to secure a further stay of execution?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe attention of the Congested Districts Board has been drawn to this estate, but they were not aware that Mr. McCoyne had refused to sell. They are now in communication with him with the object of purchasing his property. The Board do not possess any power to intervene in proceedings for the recovery of rent.
Mr. BOYLEasked what estates in Bangor Erris, county Mayo, have been offered for sale to the Congested Districts Board; and what steps the Board have taken to acquire estates in this barony that have not been offered for sale by utilising the compulsory powers of the Land Act of 1909?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe following estates in the Barony of Erris, county Mayo, have been offered for sale to the Congested Districts Board:—Henry Blake Knox, Mary McGloin, Elizabeth Eleanor Bingham, and E. C. Walshe. They are endeavouring to acquire by voluntary purchase a number of other estates in the Barony. The Board have not yet decided to proceed by way of compulsory purchase in the case of any estate in this Barony.