asked the Minister for Finance if he will state whether he has caused any inquiry to be made with a view to ascertaining the nature and extent of any speculative buying of (a) land and (b) other property, carried on by persons other than Irish born persons since the beginning of the war emergency; and whether he proposes to take any measures to control or prevent speculation by such persons in land or other property.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Control of Speculative Buying of Property.
The information at my disposal following inquires which I have made, does not provide any evidence of speculative buying of land and other property by persons other than Irish born persons during the past two years and, accordingly, I do not feel called upon to take any measures of the kind suggested in the Deputy's question.
Will the Minister consider that, if it is necessary at the present time for one Irishman to get a licence to sell a lorry to another Irishman under an Emergency Powers Order, it would be worth while, even from the point of view of getting a review of what is happening, to make it necessary for an Irishman to get a licence to sell his property to a person other than a person who was born in the country?
There is no evidence of any kind available to me to show that there is anything of the kind being done, such as is suggested in the Deputy's question. I have no information to that effect, and I had the widest inquiries made.
If it is possible and feasible to have a scheme by which, if one Irishman wants to sell a lorry to another Irishman, he has to get a licence to do it, will the Minister for Finance say why it should not be equally possible and feasible to arrange that, when an Irishman wants to sell land or house property to a person who is not an Irishman, he would have to get a licence too?