asked the Minister for Lands if he will state (a) the number of proposed migrants which will be needed in order that the re-arrangement of the Dickens estate, Corraun, Achill, may be considered, and (b) the number of people in Louragee, Knocknamona and elsewhere on the estate who have signified their willingness to be transferred.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Re-arrangement of Achill Estate.
It is estimated that to effect re-arrangement of this estate and at the same time bring the holdings up to an economic standard, it would be necessary to migrate more than half of the existing 400 tenants occupying considerably undersized holdings thereon. As the Deputy will readily appreciate a migration scheme of such magnitude would be a very formidable task, apart altogether from the general reluctance on the part of the tenants concerned to migrate to eastern areas. It seems that the most that the Land Commission can hope to achieve is to secure the maximum pool of land by way of migration and resumption and to effect as satisfactory a re-arrangement as possible with this additional land. It was ascertained in October, 1954, that nine tenants on the estate whose combined lands comprised 56 acres, were prepared to migrate and the inadequacy of this area to effect a satisfactory re-arrangement is quite apparent. The housing conditions on the estate are good. Many of the tenants have availed themselves of Gaeltacht and other housing assistance and generally speaking a fair proportion of the dwellings have been improved and are well kept.
I happen to know the estate myself and cannot help thinking that it is not a farming area in the orthodox sense; migratory labouring abroad has become endemic there. The estate, however, is being kept under constant review, but I am unable to promise that it can be dealt with quickly.