asked the Minister for Lands and Agriculture if he will instruct the Land Commission not to press farmers for rent or annuities, or put to unnecessary cost those persons whose farming prospects suffered heavily by not being able to attend to their business owing to the pre-Truce campaign or during the Irregular campaign, as there are many who up to the present have not been able or may never legally be able to recover damages for the loss to the chief industry by which they lived, and whether he will undertake to give those people time until after the harvest for payment.
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. [ORAL ANSWERS.] - PAYMENT OF RENTS AND ANNUITIES.
SEAN O DUINNIN
Mr. HOGAN
Where claims for compensation have been lodged with the Compensation Authorities and are awaiting payment, and provided the claimant consents to the arrears due to the Land Commission being deducted from the Compensation Award, the Land Commission will favourably consider an application to stay proceedings for collection of such arrears, but subject to this, payment of sums due to the Land Commission must be made as they fall due. In this connection it must be remembered that under the Land Purchase Acts the tenants have already obtained in their annuities or payment in lieu of rent considerable reductions in the sums they would otherwise have to pay in the form of rent. The Land Commission are under a statutory obligation to collect the sums payable to them under the Land Purchase Acts, and if not paid, to institute legal proceedings for their recovery. Arrears of Land Purchase Annuities have to be made good by deductions from the Grants in Aid of local taxation; in other words, the deficiency has to be made good out of the local rates.