To-day I addressed the following question to the Minister for Lands:—
"To ask the Minister for Lands if he has received repeated representations urging him to acquire and divide a large number of estates in the counties of Laoighis and Offaly, including the following: Trench Estate, Ballybrittas; Alley Estate, Knockaroo; Young Estate, Brockley Park, Stradbally; Gillece-Lynam Estate, Clonbullogue; Colton Estate, Daingean; Corcoran Estate, Oakley Park, Birr; if he is aware that offers for the purchase of some of these estates, by private treaty, have been made by persons other than Irish citizens; and if he will state what steps, if any, have been taken to acquire and divide these and other estates in the counties concerned amongst the most deserving local applicants.
The Minister in reply said:—
"On a number of occasions I have explained to the House that except for what is being done in the congested districts counties, it is not practicable in present circumstances for the Land Commission to open up new proceedings for the acquisition of lands. One of the cases referred to by the Deputy, that of the Gillece Estate at Clonbullogue, involves a question of acquiring turbary and steps are being taken to have it investigated as soon as possible. In the remaining cases, I cannot say when the Land Commission may be in a position to take any action. I have made that clear already in reply to previous questions regarding the particular estates of Trench at Glenmalyre, Ballybrittas and Alley at Knockaroo, Borris-in-Ossory."
When this Government came into office, I fully understood that not alone would they proceed to exercise whatever powers were handed over to them by their predecessors, but that it was their intention to expedite, if at all possible, the acquisition and division of the untenanted land available for division in 1932. A certain amount of progress was certainly made up to the commencement of the emergency period. I want to be fair by saying that perhaps in certain years more land was acquired and divided than had been divided by the previous Government, but for reasons not too well known to me at the moment, or at any rate not well understood by me, the Government do not appear to have any further interest in the acquisition and division of land. That is certainly confirmed by the contents of the reply given to me by the Minister this evening.
Let me take the case of the Alley estate. It is nearly 20 years since I was first informed by the Minister for Lands and Agriculture at the time that preliminary steps had been taken for the acquisition and division of the Alley estate at Knockaroo in the County Laoighis. I raised the matter on several occasions in response to requests submitted to me by large numbers of uneconomic holders, cottage tenants and landless men. The owner of the estate, who has considerable additional lands in the same county and in an adjoining county, has on more than one occasion, to my knowledge, boasted that these lands would never be taken from him during his lifetime, and up to the present he would seem to have good grounds for making that statement.
In the case of the Trench estate, not alone has the agent indicated it, but the owner of the estate also has agreed to sell. In this case there is a considerable acreage of turbary. Notwithstanding the restrictions placed upon the Government in regard to the acquisition of land, it is possible, I believe, under certain of the Emergency Powers Acts, to acquire a large acreage of turbary on the Trench estate. I would like to hear what steps have been taken in that direction. The Minister has the powers. What has he done to exercise them?
As regards the Colton estate, there is a large number of persons still living in the locality whose ancestors were driven out in years gone by. If the Minister's inspectors have not advised him on that point, I may tell him that there are still there a considerable number of people whose forefathers were driven off the estate and they are now living under the most intolerable conditions, particularly in the matter of housing, within a mile or two of the estate. Eleven of the people who are living in close proximity to the estate were recently arrested and sentenced to three months in Tullamore for driving cattle off the land. They were interrogated and later sentenced to three months because they refused to be bound by a rule of bail. They refused to give an undertaking not to repeat the offence. Four of the people who are now in jail have been living on a holding with a valuation of £7. In this family there are two women and six men, grown-up men, and they have been living in two small rooms and a kitchen in a house that was condemned a number of years ago by the medical officer of health. There are eight other families living in houses within a radius of two miles from the estate and their houses have also been condemned by the medical officer of health. The agitation in connection with the Colton estate is only one of a number of agitations, but in this particular case the people concerned, namely, 11 road workers and agricultral labourers, have taken the law into their own hands and because they refused to apologise in the Circuit Court or give an undertaking to be of good behaviour for the future, they are now serving three months' imprisonment.
As regards the Gillece estate, the Minister indicated that certain inquiries were being made but did not know what action would be taken. I do not accuse the Minister of any personal hostility in these matters. Eight persons were brought before the Circuit Court judge in Tullamore last week for having the cheek in this country, where there is supposed to be considerable freedom, to use a certain right of way to go from their homes into a bog to cut turf. They were brought before the Circuit Court and threatened with imprisonment if they failed to pay £20 compensation for damage alleged to have been done through using the right of way. I believe it is a proper right of way into the bog on this estate. There are 25 families cutting turf on the bog and there are 71 applicants for divisions of the turbary as well as for portions of the land on the estate. The question of urgency arises in this and in all the other cases.
The other lands referred to in the question are in just the same position. They have been under consideration for God knows how many years — for more years than I would like to remember. Deputies of every Party representing the constituency, both in this Dáil and in previous Dála, have been pressing the Minister and his predecessors to have these lands acquired and divided. I met the Minister on more than one occasion in connection with some of these cases. I do not accuse him of any hostility. I say that if the Government renewed the powers of which they were in possession previous to the commencement of the emergency, they would be as sympathetic and probably as quick to make use of those powers as any of their predecessors.
The Minister knows better than any of his predecessors the whole background to this land agitation and, surely, he will use his influence to try to get the pre-emergency powers restored to the Land Commission so as to enable them to acquire and divide the remainder of the untenanted land in this country. I am told by the Minister and others that the real reason these powers are not being used in the same way as previous to the emergency is because the Government are waiting — and they will wait for ever — until land goes back as nearly as possible to its pre-war price and value. The Minister knows, and others also know, that as a result of every war the price of everything, including land, goes up and never goes back to its pre-war price or value. That is likely to happen here, too.
What are the Government doing to bring the land back to its pre-war price and value? The Government are looking on at foreigners coming here every week with their furniture vans and with millions of money in their possession. These foreigners are allowed to compete freely against our nationals for land, houses and, indeed, for anything that can be got here. These foreigners have much more money than our nationals. All that is contrary to what I understand should be the attitude of the Government. If the Government want to bring the remainder of the untenanted land back to its pre-war price or value, they should prevent these foreigners coming in here and buying this land against our nationals. Our people cannot find money to compete against these foreigners.
The Minister, I am sure, has the statement in his possession showing where the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, in the House of Commons only two weeks ago, said that £10,000,000 had been transferred to this country for the people who came here to buy up land and everything else they could get. This policy of suspending operations in connection with the acquisition of the untenanted land of this country will have to be reviewed for reasons which are well understood by the Minister. I appeal to the Minister, whom I would regard as sympathtic if he had the power, if he has not already done so, to go to the Government to ask for the renewal of these powers.
