asked the Minister for Lands if the Crowley Estate at Trim, County Meath, which was acquired by the Land Commission, is to be handed over to the Department of Agriculture for the fattening of reactor cattle from the West of Ireland; and, if so, how long this transaction is to last; and when it is likely that the estate will be divided.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Crowley Estate (Meath).
22.
The Department of Agriculture has recently taken over these lands temporarily from the Land Commission under the bovine T.B. eradication scheme. It is not yet feasible to say when the lands can be divided but it is not expected that there will be prolonged delay.
When did the Land Commission acquire these lands?
I am not quite sure. I should have to get additional information. It was not very long ago.
Does the Minister advert to the fact that a dangerous principle is here enshrined? The purposes for which the Land Commission may compulsorily acquire land are clearly and strictly defined and limited by the Land Acts. It is no part of the function of the Land Commission to purchase a farm on behalf of the Department of Agriculture.
The Deputy may take it that it was done within the provisions of the Land Acts.
I am glad to hear it, but does the Minister agree with me that, if an estate is acquired under the compulsory powers of the Land Commission and then transferred to the Department of Agriculture, a dangerous precedent is created, unless the arrangement is one for a very temporary letting and, secondly, that the division of the land is proceeded with expeditiously?
Apart from any other consideration, this is a temporary letting.
But would the Minister agree with me that any protracted letting of this estate by the Land Commission for purposes not envisaged in the Land Acts would be a serious abuse?
That seems to be a separate question.
I want to direct the attention of the House to a letting by the Land Commission of lands compulsorily acquired by them to another Government Department. If the Minister says this will be of very temporary duration, then a principle is not infringed; but, if the letting contemplated is a long one, I am asking the Minister does he not agree with me that that would be an abuse of the provisions of the Land Acts?
The Land Commission has no intention of abusing its procedure or the provisions of the Acts in any way. This is a temporary letting. It does not establish any special precedent of any kind.