§ Mr. FRANCIS MEEHANasked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that the tenants on the Roper estate, Agha-cashel, county Leitrim, made application to the Congested Districts Board for the purchase of the estate; and whether, having regard to the congested state of the district and to the fact that there is a tract of grazing land available for distribution which is now held by non-residents, the Board will take steps to purchase the estate and relieve congestion?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Congested Districts Board have received applications from the tenants of the estate of W. Roper Little, situate in the electoral Division of Agha-cashel, to purchase the property. The Board have been in communication with the owner, but do not at present propose to take any action with a view to acquiring the property compulsorily under the provisions of the Act of 1909.
§ Mr. SCANLANasked whether applications have been received from tenant purchasers on the Howley Estate, Kilglass, county Sligo, by the Estates Commissioners for a visit from an engineer to inspect the estate and adjust the boundaries and the plots of turbary allotted to the different tenants; and whether, as trouble has been occasioned to tenants on this estate through the failure of the Commissioners' representatives to properly subdivide the bog-land, the Commissioners will now send an inspector to mark out the boundaries and settle the existing difficulties?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe sale of this estate was completed over five years ago, when the turbary allotments were pointed out to the purchasing tenants by the Estates Commissioners' representatives and vested accordingly. The Commissioners cannot now re-open the question of the allotment of the turbary.
§ Mr. SCANLANasked whether the attention of the Congested Districts Board has been directed to the congested condition of Maherow, county Sligo, and to the poverty of the tenantry all through this district; whether the Board are now 1500W prepared to purchase the untenanted land known as the Seven Cartrons and other untenanted portions of the Gore-Booth estate, in order to relieve congestion and enlarge the uneconomic holdings; and whether, in view of the circumstances of the locality, the Board can now send inspectors to visit the district and investigate the circumstances and conditions under which the tenants and labourers are living, with a view to pressing forward negotiations for purchase or taking steps to acquire the lands compulsorily?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Congested Districts Board have received numerous memorials from the district referred to. The Board are in negotiation for the purchase of tenanted or untenanted lands on Sir Jocelyn Gore-Booth's estate in county Sligo. The estate, which is the subject of negotiations, does not include the Seven Cartrons portion of the property, which are stated to be part of the owner's demesne, and which he has not offered to sell. An offer for purchase of that portion of his estate, which the owner is willing to sell, will be made as soon as practicable. Portion of the estate has already been purchased by the Board.
§ Mr. DANIEL BOYLEasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if he will furnish particulars of estates in the barony of Erris, county Mayo, already acquired by the Congested Districts Board or Estates Commissioners, giving the name of the estate, acreage, occupied and unoccupied (grazing tracts to be included under unoccupied), number of holdings, date when acquired, price, and whether vested in the tenants; similar particulars, in so far as they may apply, of estates now on offer, with dates when maps, etc., have been deposited, and a statement as to the progress made towards their acquisition; and similar particulars, in so far as they may apply and are within the knowledge of the Congested Districts Board, of all other estates in the barony not yet offered, with a statement of the steps taken by the Board with a view to their acquisition?
§ Mr. BIRRELLI am unable to give the particulars asked for by the hon. Member with regard to the estates acquired by the Congested Districts Board in the Barony of Erris, as the statistics of the Board are not kept by baronies. As regards estates not yet acquired, it would not be desirable, even if it were possible, to enter into details.
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§ Mr. SCANLANasked the Chief Secretary what estates in county Sligo have been purchased by the Congested Districts Board since the passing of the Land Act of 1909, and in how many cases have offers been made by the Board to the proprietors of estates in which sales have not yet taken place; and if he can give an assurance that the work of purchase will be accelerated in county Sligo?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe following estates have been purchased by the Congested Districts Board in the county Sligo since the passing of the Act of 1909, namely: W. J. Griffith, C. S. Boyd, Lord Harlech, H. C. Tweedy, M. O'M. Knott, Sir K. Palmer, E. and A. Lyons, H. M. R. Crichton, Mrs. A. O. Crichton, A. J. Crichton, M. C. Dodwell, P. W. Connolly, Captain H. H. Jones, Sir J. Gore-Booth (part of), and P. J. Costelloe. The Board have also issued offers for the purchase of two other estates, and negotiations are still pending in these cases. The Board will continue to use every exertion to acquire estates voluntarily in the county Sligo, and in cases in which owners are unwilling to sell voluntarily the question of purchasing compulsorily shall be carefully considered.
§ Mr. DELANYasked the Chief Secretary whether the Estates Commissioners have acquired the lands of Bordwell, Clough, Queen's County, Owen's estate; if so, can he say how it is proposed to divide the land; is he aware that there are a number of small holders in the locality whose holdings require enlargement, and that an attempt is being made to secure a portion of the untenanted land for two large farms, to the exclusion of the uneconomic holders; and can he say what course the Commissioners propose to adopt in the matter?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Estates Commissioners have had an inspection made of some eighty-one acres of untenanted land situate in the townland of Bordwell Big on the estate of the representatives of A. Owen, Queen's county, and have communicated to the owners their preliminary estimate of the price which they would be prepared to advance if formal proceedings were instituted by the owners for the sale of these lands to the Commissioners. They understand the owner is willing to accept their estimated price, and if the lands are acquired by the Commissioners the wants and circumstances of the adjoining smallholders will be duly considered when the Commissioners are dealing with the lands.