HC Deb 09 November 1911 vol 30 cc1957-8W
Mr. JOHN O'CONNOR

asked what has become of the formal proposal for purchase of the Aylmer estate, in county Kildare; has it been accepted or rejected; and how does the matter now stand?

Mr. BIRRELL

The vendor has accepted the Estates Commissioners' proposal, subject to certain conditions which are under consideration.

Mr. PATRICK WHITE

asked whether the Estates Commissioners have noted the name of Bernard Dunne, evicted from the Radcliffe estate at Dromiskin, parish of Moynalty, county Meath, as a person to be provided for in the event of their acquiring untenanted land in the district; and whether, having regard to the fact that the estate of Colonel Fitzhenry Smythe is partly in the same parish, his claim will now be satisfied?

Mr. BIRRELL

The holding formerly occupied by Dunne is now in the possession of a tenant who has purchased it under the Land Purchase Acts. Dunne has himself purchased a holding of ten acres under the Land Purchase Acts, and if the Commissioners acquire any untenanted land in its immediate neighbourhood they will consider whether he should get a parcel of it.

Mr. DUFFY

asked whether the estate of R. F. Thompson, Record No. EC 1265, county Galway, was sold to the tenants so long ago as 1904; was the estate vested in the Land Commission in the year 1910; has the landlord been paid the purchase money; and will he explain how it is that the tenants are still called upon to pay interest on the purchase money?

Mr. BIRRELL

This estate, which is a congested one with a number of intermixed holdings, was originally the subject of direct sale proceedings, and purchase agreements were lodged in January, 1905. The Estates Commissioners refused to sanction the direct sale, and asked the vendor to sell the estate to them under Section 6 of the Irish Land Act, 1903, so as to enable them to re-arrange the holdings. The vendor consented, and the estate was vested in the Commissioners in February last, and the purchase money paid into the Bank of Ireland. The tenants have refused to agree to the Commissioners' scheme for the re-arrangement of the lands, and until they agree the resale of them to the tenants cannot be completed.