asked the Minister for Lands if he will indicate which Land Act and which section therein precludes (a) a landless man from qualifying for an allotment of land, and (b) a cottier from qualifying for a cow-plot.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Claims of Landless Men and Cottiers.
29.
There is nothing in the Land Acts which precludes a landless man from qualifying for an allotment or a cottier from qualifying for a cow-plot.
The selection of allottees by the Land Commission is governed by Section 31 of the Land Act, 1923, which sets out the various classes of allottees to whom advances for the purchase of parcels of land may be made. The following order of priority operates as a matter of policy which has remained unchanged for many years:—displaced employees, uneconomic holders, migrants, trustees for communal purposes, cottiers, other landless applicants. Or, put more precisely, the relief of congestion is the primary objective of Land Commission policy.
Questions Nos. 30 and 31 postponed.