asked the Minister for Lands if he will state the area of land acquired for afforestation in County Kildare in each of the years 1956, 1957, 1958 and 1959, and the minimum, maximum and average price paid per acre of land so acquired.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Kildare Forestry Lands.
22.
Forestry acquisition statistics are kept on a financial year basis and I am giving the Deputy figures for the financial years covering the periods in question.
The total productive areas acquired by my Department for forestry purposes in County Kildare in those years were as follows: 1955-56, 96 acres; 1956-57, 215 acres; 1957-58, 537 acres; 1958-59, 431 acres and 1959-60 (todate), 93 acres.
The average price per productive acre paid for this land, exclusive of timber and buildings, was as follows: 1955-56 £4.7; 1956-57, £8.1; 1957-58, £7.7; 1958-59, £5.9 and 1959-60 (todate), £3.4.
As regards minimum and maximum prices, I must inform the Deputy that every block of land offered for forestry purposes is valued acre by acre and the price to be offered for the land is determined by reference to a scale of values ranging from £1 to £10 an acre. The valuations placed on the lands acquired in County Kildare in the years in question ranged over the entire scale.
Do I understand from the Minister that no more than £10 per acre was available in any one case?
That is so.
Is it true that the Minister is offering at the present time £1 per acre for large areas of land?
As I pointed out to Deputy Norton in my reply, the average price in 1959-60 was £3.4 per acre. The Deputy will appreciate that that may indicate that this land was of much poorer quality than land formerly acquired.
Is it possible that in an area adjacent to an established forest in mountainous counties an amount of £1 per acre is offered for 500 acres?
And accepted as well.
That is astonishing to me.