asked the Minister for Lands whether he is aware that in a private sale of a farm in County Monaghan in June, 1955 [particulars supplied] to the Land Commission, it was represented to the vendor that the purchase price would be paid to him in land bonds, realisable at par, that the vendor would not have sold his lands to the commission had he not been assured that the full price would be paid, and that the vendor now suffers a loss of 20 per cent. in the price as a result of the depreciation of the bonds, and, if so, if he will compensate the vendor for the loss incurred by him in the sale.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - County Monaghan Farm Sale.
I am informed by the Land Commission that no undertaking of the nature mentioned at (a) in the question was given to the vendor in the course of the negotiations for the purchase of the lands. It is the practice of the Land Commission to inform owners in the course of preliminary negotiations for the voluntary purchase of land, that the purchase money will be payable in land bonds of the relevant series equal in nominal amount thereto, and, if agreement is reached, the terms of the purchase, including the price, are made the subject of a proposal to purchase for acceptance by the owner.
The rate of interest payable in respect of the land bonds and the capital repayment at par on redemption are guaranteed by the State but the guarantee does not extend to the day to day Stock Exchange price of bonds, and the Land Commission have no power to compensate the owner for any variation in such price. The statutory position, flowing from Section 2, Land Bond Act, 1934, is that "land bonds shall, as between the vendor to whom they are issued, and the Land Commission, be accepted by such vendor as the equivalent of the corresponding amount of purchase money".