I move amendment No. 2:
In page 9, between lines 48 and 49, to insert the following new subsection (in section 12):
"( ) For the removal of doubt, it is hereby declared that an agistment, conacre or grazing letting is not a letting, subletting or subdivision within the meaning of this section".
This amendment relates to section 12. Deputy Sweetman and I have tabled it for the purpose of removal of doubt. We already have in the Bill quite a large number of sections which are included merely for the purpose of the removal of doubt. In the course of the debates on the Bill, the Minister made reference to the removal of doubt in regard to sections 8, 9, 10, 19, 22 and 27. I feel that, for the purpose of removal of doubt, it is most desirable that the amendment should be accepted by the Minister and I ask him in all sincerity to do so.
This amendment has been tabled on the understanding that the intention of the main Opposition Party on the Report Stage, and indeed on the Committee Stage of this Bill, is to endeavour to improve it. Our efforts on the Report Stage to improve this Bill are justified by the high degree of commonsense and intelligence in our amendments.
In rural Ireland, there are large numbers of landowners, big and small, who set land on the conacre system. When we are tidying up land legislation and putting through a Land Bill, we should remove doubts from the minds of landowners, particularly in relation to this section, and that is the reason for this amendment.
The Minister has already said that this section and this Land Bill in general have no bearing whatever in regard to the usual conacre lettings —the 11 months lettings, the grazing letting or the aftergrass letting with which we are all so familiar down the country. Many Deputies have given guarantees of this kind to those interested in conacre lettings. Whilst we give them this guarantee, we have the guarantee from the Minister. However, in the event of legal proceedings at a later stage, there is nothing in this Bill which gives security to the person who conacres his land.
This is a very important matter for the many types of people who must conacre their land. It is important for the cottage tenants, the small-holders who must take the land on the conacre system in order to supplement their small holdings. There are many instances of the cottage tenant who already has an accommodation plot from the Land Commission who frequently attends a conacre auction to supplement his accommodation plot with, say, three, five or six acres of tillage, a number of acres for grazing, or perhaps he may turn up at a meadow sale or may successfully purchase aftergrass over the three months period.
Landowners who set their lands on a temporary basis have been given an assurance by the Minister but we want that assurance written into this Bill for the removal of doubt. When the Minister stands up in this House and gives us the assurance that the ordinary conacre lettings are excluded from the terms of this Bill, what harm will it be—since, on numerous occasions, he made reference to the removal of doubt on various sections—to remove all doubt on this section?
In addition to recommendations from the National Farmers Association and other farming organisations, one of the principal recommendations that came to the Minister from the Irish Auctioneers and Estate Agents Association in relation to conacre lettings was that it should be written into this Bill that such lettings are not covered by the relevant section. In order to improve this Bill, the Minister would make a very good start on the Report Stage, if he accepted this amendment.
There are many landowners who, due to financial circumstances, must set their lands annually. It is common knowledge that when a farmer dies, leaving a widow and a young family, the widow usually sets the land for a number of years until such time as her children grow up and are able to manage the farm. The Minister has assured us that the powers of the Land Commission to inspect under section 27, will not be put into effect in such cases but it is only right that that should be written into the Bill. It is a very reasonable request.
We did not table this amendment without giving the matter very serious thought. A good deal of anxiety, worry and misunderstanding exists among landowners whose land must be set on the usual short-term temporary convenience basis. Nobody has a greater knowledge of the conditions and domestic affairs of such people than the local auctioneers or estate agents. That is why the auctioneers, through their organisation, have made this very strong plea to the Minister to have written into the Bill a provision excluding such lettings.
The Minister will probably tell us there is no need to write it into the Bill. My reply to that is that in the event of proceedings being taken in any of our courts, it will be useless for an aggrieved party to stand up and tell the judge that the Minister for Lands had told the Dáil such lettings would be exempted. The learned judge will be concerned only with what is written into the Act, not with what the Minister said. Neither will he be concerned with the statements of Deputies. It will be his job, and rightly so, to deal with the law as it has been written.
All we ask is that the doubt be cleared up, that the matter be made clear for the learned gentlemen on the benches in the event of such cases arising. The Minister should in all fairness, as he did in other sections of this Bill, write into this section that temporary grazing and conacre lettings are exempted from the terms of the section. If he does that, I, for one, will express my appreciation. Even if it does not seem necessary, what harm will it do? This is one section where it seems most desirable to clear up any doubt that exists. The plea we are making is fair and reasonable and the Minister should accept it in a spirit of friendliness and co-operation.
If the Minister does what we ask in this amendment, I can assure him it will be a big step towards fostering co-operation and common understanding in this House. Those who must set their land in conacre or grazing lettings need this guarantee of security. They must be given to understand that such lettings will in no way interfere with their rights to continue to set their lands on the 11-month system. Numerous conacre people throughout the country are extremely worried and this amendment in my name and Deputy Sweetman's is an attempt to allay that anxiety and that fear. I, therefore, make a serious plea to the Minister to accept the amendment which is aimed at improving the section.