asked the Minister for Lands if he will make a statement in regard to the fall in the value of land bonds, in view of the uneasiness amongst people who have recently sold their lands to the Land Commission; if he will make sure that they will suffer no loss in the value of land bonds as on the date of the sale of lands; if he is aware that the drop in the value of land bonds is causing vendors to hesitate in selling their lands to the Land Commission; and what he proposes to do about the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Value of Land Bonds.
47.
The terms under which land bonds are issued in payment of the purchase price of lands acquired by the Land Commission are laid down in the Land Bond Act, 1934, the Land Act, 1953, and the various Land Bonds Orders thereunder. The rate of interest to be borne by each series of land bonds is fixed with a view to securing that the market price of the bonds shall remain at or near par for a reasonable time after they have been created. Bonds are guaranteed by the State as to payment of interest and ultimate redemption at par but such guarantee does not extend to day to day prices on the Stock Exchange and the Land Commission have no power to compensate owners for losses through fluctuation in the Stock Market. Since first created by the Land Bond (No. 2) Order 1957 the interest rate of 6 per cent payable has been regularly adequate to maintain the bonds at or near par but in line with gilt-edged stocks generally there has been a fall in their value on the Stock Exchange in recent months. I can assure the Deputy that I am watching all aspects of the situation very closely and I trust that the current price level may be short-lived.
Meantime I would inform the Deputy that under section 26, Land Act, 1965, owners whose prices have been agreed in Land Bonds but whose lands have not yet vested in the Land Commission will be eligible for payment in such higher interest-bearing bonds as may exist when the lands do in fact vest in the Land Commission.
We may take it that is the guarantee the Minister has given to people who have already sold lands to the Land Commission.
If they are not already vested in the Land Commission.
What is the present price of Land Bonds?
Sin ceist eile.