asked the Minister for Agriculture whether he is aware that the tenants on the Gubbins and Lowe Estate (Record No. E.C. 6302), near Youghal, Co. Cork, strongly protest against their holdings being vested, until such time as the embankment on the foreshore bounding these lands is put in proper condition to resist the very strong tides that prevail there; whether he has been supplied with a copy of the report made by Mr. D. J. Tierney, B.A., B.E., Assoc.M. Inst.C.E., 16 Cook Street, Cork, an engineer of the highest repute, which is a very great indictment of the condition of this embankment, and whether he considers that public monies should be advanced on the security of lands protected by such an insecure and ineffective embankment as that described in Mr. Tierney's report; whether he has been supplied with a copy of notice sent out to each tenant in this estate by Estate Commissioners, under date 8th ult., informing the tenants that they (the Commissioners) propose to vest these holdings; and whether he will have these notices withdrawn, and at an early date take some suitable steps to investigate the reasonable complaints of those tenants, and be assured that the embankment is properly secured, and that those lands are securely protected, before public monies are advanced in their security?
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. [ ORAL ANSWERS. ] - CO. CORK TENANTS' PROTEST.
I am aware that the tenants on the two estates of Henry F. Lowe and F. J. B. Gubbins, Co. Cork, have protested against their holdings on these estates being vested in them until the embankments bounding the lands have been put into a proper state of repair. I have had the whole matter investigated by the Land Commission. As regards the embankment on the Gubbins Estate, the Commissioners are satisfied, as a result of a special inspection made by one of their engineers that the work on the embankment, carried out in accordance with a specification prepared by the tenants' engineer and under his supervision, has been satisfactorily completed. In addition the Vendor of the estate has agreed to increase the amount which the Commissioners asked him to provide for the future maintenance of the embankment from £750 to £1,000, and has also undertaken to effect some further repairs suggested by the Commissioners' Engineer on the occasion of his last visit.
As regards the embankment on the Lowe Estate, extensive repairs were carried out to the embankments in the years 1912 and 1913 by the Vendor at the request of the Land Commission, the work being completed to the satisfaction of the Commissioners' Inspector. Again in 1919 the Vendor at the request of the Commissioners, carried out certain further repairs to the banks which were considered necessary in order to put the banks into thorough repair before the holdings were vested. In the case of this estate it is to be observed that in the agreements signed by the tenant purchasers the latter undertook to keep the embankments in proper repair.
I am satisfied that everything reasonably possible has been done both by the Vendors and by the Land Commission to put both these embankments into a proper state of repair, and I do not, therefore, propose to authorise the withdrawal of the notices stated to have been served on the tenants informing them that the Land Commission proposed to vest their holdings in them forthwith.