asked the Minister for Lands and Fisheries if he will state the number of tenant purchasers under the earlier Land Purchase Acts who are paying interest on foot of mortgages or charges given to their former landlords to secure deposits on the sales of their farms, and whether the Land Commission made advances for the redemption of such mortgages or charges.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Redemption of Mortgages.
The Deputy appears to refer to cases in which, under the provisions of Sections 24, 25 and 26 of the Land Law Act of 1881, and Section 6 of the Purchase of Land Act, 1885, the difference between the total purchase price and the advance made by the Land Commission towards purchase was met by the tenant towards way of mortgage to his landlord. The Land Commission have no record of the number of such cases.
Section 39 of the Land Act, 1923, authorises the Land Commission, where a holding has been vested in a purchaser under the Land Purchase Acts, subject to a superior interest or charge, to make an advance for the redemption of such superior interest or charge.
Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that nobody is aware of that provision and that there is a large number of estates which come under Section 24 of the Land Law Act of 1881? Is he aware that there is a large number of estates on which the landlords executed mortgages and that nothing has been done under the 1923 Act with reference to the redemption of these mortgages?
Three advances have been made to date under Section 29 of the Land Act of 1923. One of them was in respect of the class of mortgage to which the Deputy refers in his question. At all events the section is there and it is for the tenants to avail themselves of it.