§ Mr. DEVLINasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether 25 per cent. of the sales agreed upon between Irish landlords and tenants, and approved of by the Estates Commissioners, are still uncompleted by reason of the withholding of the advances by the Treasury; whether lands representing purchase money amounting to £21,500,000 cannot be transferred to the tenants solely because the advances have not been made; whether out of the purchase of 1,000,000 acres of estates by the Estates Commissioners, not scheduled under the Congested Districts Board, 26 per cent. comprise untenanted lands available for redistribution and enlargement of small uneconomic holdings; whether, seeing that Ireland is paying to the British 853W Treasury something like £26,000,000 over and above the cost of the Irish Government services and expenditure, he will insist on the necessary advances being made without delay so as to speed up land purchase, and enable the untenanted lands purchased to be distributed amongst landless men and occupiers of small uneconomic holdings?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONThe purchase money of the sales completed amounts to £105,481,751, and the purchase money of pending sales still uncompleted amounts to £18,385,971, the latter figure being 14.8 per cent. of the total. Advances will be made in these pending cases in their due priority according as the requirements of the Estates Commissioners as to title, and other matters are complied with and funds are available. During the War advances under the Land Purchase Acts were necessarily restricted, but it is hoped that henceforth the rate at which advances can be made will be considerably increased. As regards the distribution of untenanted lands purchased by the Commissioners there has been no delay. On the 1st ultimo, the Commissioners had acquired on estates purchased by them316,719 acres of untenanted land, and on that date all the untenanted land as well as lands surrendered by migrants and others, and resold by the Commissioners as untenanted land had been distributed and the purchasers placed in occupation, save as regards only 15,722 acres not yet distributed, and of this residue over 14,000 acres consist of mountain, turbary, and plantations.