I cannot say if the House has considered the seriousness of this section. That is why I feel that an opportunity is now given to us to stress upon all sides of the House the importance and the seriousness of the provisions of this section.
It is clearly laid down in the explanatory memorandum circulated with this Bill that section 12 provides that the subdivision, subletting and letting of all agricultural land in the State shall be subject to Land Commission consent. I consider that that is a very serious threat to the full rights of ownership.
When this Bill is enacted, and if this section is incorporated in it, then it will be necessary for the owner of agricultural land to relinquish his rights to do as he wishes with the land which probably for generations has been in his family. It is a very strange provision. I feel that the majority of the land owners in this country, big or small, and particularly the small owners, seriously object to the provisions of this section because they are an infringement on the rights of the owner of the land to do as he wishes with his own property.
For the first time, the State is intervening in the rights of the citizen who is the owner of the property. This type of legislation might be expected from somebody of the type of Fidel Castro, Mr. Khrushchev, Marshal Tito, Mr. Bulganin, or some of those people. Here I see the Minister for Lands masquerading as the defender of the people's rights but now taking it upon himself to introduce this very serious section.
Even if it becomes an Act, it is extremely doubtful if it will be constitutional to interfere with the rights of citizens in relation to the ownership of land. I feel that the vast majority of the members of this House do not realise the seriousness of this section and the effect it will have on rural Ireland. This is a section which should be opposed and certainly it ought not to be passed by this House without very serious examination.
Last week, the Minister for Lands went to great pains to point out that although the section will be incorporated in our legislation it is not of a very serious character and it will not interfere with the rights of the landowners of this country. Of course, it would interfere with the ownership of land and with the rights of a person to do what he likes with his property.
Whilst we accept the Minister's assurances that all conacre lettings, all 11 months lettings, all grazing lettings, all the meadowing sales that usually take place under the conacre system are excluded from the powers of this Bill—we take it that they are—nevertheless, when it comes to dealing with the law as it stands, if any circuit court judge or high court judge is asked at a later stage to interpret the law in relation to section 12 of this Bill, when it is enacted, there is nothing in this Bill to enable that learned judge to decide that a conacre letting or any other suitable temporary letting does not come within the scope of section 12 of this Bill.
I accept the Minister's assurance that his intentions are really good at this moment in relation to this matter but, nevertheless, there will be no use in any aggrieved landowner presenting himself in court and saying that the Minister for Lands said in the Dáil during the passage of the Bill that conacre and other temporary lettings, and the usual short-term lettings we have in the country dealing with grasslands, meadowing, and so on, are excluded from the law. Naturally enough, the learned judge will be concerned only with what is before him in black and white and with what this House passes. The section clearly says that all lettings, all sublettings, all subdivision of all agricultural land will be affected. That is very wide. There is no narrowness there. Sooner or later a problem will arise. It will be no use for a landowner to go to court to contest this section because no letting, subletting or subdivision can take place without the consent of the Land Commission. It is an infringement of the right to free ownership of land.
Many agricultural organisations have protested against this section. Even the auctioneers' association have made strong representations and recommendations in relation to it. It is easy for the Minister to give us his assurances here, but they will be gone when the Bill is signed by the President and becomes an Act.
It is wrong for the State to interfere in a matter of this kind. The right of every farmer in this country to own his land is being contested. This section will give wide powers to Land Commission officials. We will reach the stage where the Minister will tell the House he is not concerned with the everyday workings of the Land Commission and that the putting into effect of section 12 is a matter for the Commissioners.
There are many objectionable sections in this Bill, and there are many good ones, but this is the most serious one. It is attacking the right of ownership of land. We are now going to set up the Land Commission as an institution to judge the owner of every acre of agricultural land and say whether he will or will not be given permission to do as he pleases with his own land. Is this not a steady step towards dictatorship? Is it not a first step towards interference with the ownership of private property? I think it is. I am sorry that when we are dealing with the rights of the ordinary people of Ireland to own the land of Ireland there is not a single Government Deputy in this House but the Minister for Lands.