asked the Minister for Defence if he will state the reason for the prolonged delay in making payment to Mr. John Harrington, Dundeady, Galley Head, Clonakilty, in respect of the site acquired from him for the erection of a coast watcher's hut nearly five years ago; and if he will ensure that this payment is now made without delay.
Written Answer. - Compensation for Acquisition of Site.
This land is the site of one of a number of coast watching huts which were erected for defence purposes. Possession of the site was taken by the Commissioners of Public Works under the Emergency Powers Order, 1939. As was indicated by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance in October, 1943, in reply to a question regarding this matter, the completion of purchase of a small plot of ground by the normal legal processes would necessitate the investigation of title and other formalities involving legal costs out of all proportion to the value of the plot. A simplified procedure has, therefore, been made available in Emergency Powers (No. 315) Order, 1944. Responsibility for the acquisition of the sites under this Order was recently transferred from the Commissioners of Public Works to the Department of Defence and the acquisitions are at present being effected. An officer of the Department has for some time been engaged on inspection of the sites and negotiating with owners on the question of compensation for the fee simple of the sites and also for the use of any rights-of-way involved. It will be appreciated, however, that owing to the large number of such cases and to the remote and scattered disposition of the coast watching stations the acquisition of all the sites will take some time, but every endeavour is being made to expedite completion of this work.