§ Mr. O'DOHERTYasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland if an agreement for the sale and purchase of the estate of Mrs. Catherine Harvey, at Desertegney, Buncrana, county Donegal, has been signed; whether any and, if so, what steps have been taken in order to have the untenanted and untitled land on this estate distributed for the enlargement of uneconomic holdings thereon; whether a memorial was sent some time ago to the Estates Commissioners and Congested Districts Board, respectively, urging the necessity of having these lands applied towards the enlargement of the smaller holdings on the estate before vesting orders are made to the tenants; and whether he will state when an assurance will be given to the tenants by the responsible Department that this will be done, and also inform them which of the Departments is responsible?
§ Mr. BIRRELLAs I informed the hon. Member on the 4th May last, proceedings for the sale of this estate by the owner direct to the tenants have been instituted and purchase agreements at prices agreed upon between the parties have been lodged. In addition to the tenanted land, the owner has included some 70 acres of untenanted land, which he has offered for sale to the Estates Commissioners for distribution, and also some 650 acres of turbary which he proposes should be vested in trustees for the benefit of the tenants. The question of the allotment of the untenanted land will be considered by the Commissioners when they are dealing with this estate in its order of priority. A memorial has been received from certain tenants on the property asking to have included in the sale as untenanted land for distribution the Linsfort demesne, but the Commissioners are informed by the owner's solicitors that, subsequent to the signing of the purchase agreements by the agricultural tenants, the demesne lands were let, together with the mansion house thereon, to the present occupier for a term of years with option to purchase, and are thus not available for distribution.