asked the Minister for Lands whether the Land Commission propose to acquire the Bellingham Estate at Vicarstown, County Laois, in view of the fact that the lands have been let for a number of years.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Land Acquisition.
55.
The Land Commission have no proposals for the acquisition of this estate. They did carry out a detailed inspection on the ground a few years ago and decided not to move for acquisition—the property being considered unsuitable for the purposes of the Land Acts.
56.
asked the Minister for Lands if a request was made by local people to have the property known as the O'Dwyer estate, Fahana-soodry, Ballylanders, County Limerick acquired for redistribution by the Land Commission; what is the acreage of this property; how many uneconomic holders applied for parcels of land; if the Land Commission refused to acquire the property; if so, for what reason; and in what manner the property was disposed of.
Representations to the Land Commission urging that this 406-acre property be acquired were first made by local parties in 1965. In 1966 the estate was advertised for sale by private treaty and the Land Commission had a detailed inspection made to ascertain the suitability of the lands for land reform purposes. On inspection it was found that the property had been sold in lots to seven local people subject to Land Commission consent. The determination of lands to be acquired is a matter reserved exclusively to the Commissioners. In this particular case I understand that they were satisfied that the sale in seven lots had resulted in substantially the same settlement as would have been produced if the Land Commission had acquired and divided the lands. Accordingly it was decided not to move for acquisition—and formal consent to the subdivision of the lands under Section 12 of the Land Act, 1965, was granted on 21st September, 1966, thereby validating the sale already referred to.
A list forwarded to the Land Commission in June, 1965 contained the names of 39 applicants, of whom 32 were said to be local smallholders. On inquiry, however, it was found that the great majority of these resided more than a mile distant from the estate.
57.
asked the Minister for Lands if he will state (a) for County Leitrim and (b) for County Sligo the number of acres taken over by the Land Commission in the past two years; and the number of acres divided in the same period.
For County Leitrim the total intake of land by the Land Commission in the two year period ended 31st March last was 1,250 acres and the area distributed was 1,140 acres. Corresponding figures for County Sligo are 1,700 acres and 1,500 acres respectively.