asked the Minister for Lands if he has power to acquire farms and land compulsorily in County Leitrim for forestry purposes.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Sligo-Leitrim Afforestation.
64.
Section 23 of the Forestry Act, 1946, contains provision for compulsory acquisition of land for forestry purposes. As a matter of policy, compulsory powers of purchase are rarely used and I do not anticipate any difficulty in dealing with acquisition in County Leitrim under our normal procedure of voluntary offer and negotiations.
If that is the case, I can assure the Minister for Lands that it will be a long time before he has the whole of County Leitrim planted, as he mentioned only recently, because the people of Leitrim hold on to their farms just as well as people of other counties.
65.
asked the Minister for Lands how many acres of land have been acquired for forestry purposes in County Leitrim and in County Sligo during 1969; how much money he has allocated for next year for forestry in those two counties; and how many acres he intends to acquire in each of those counties.
In the financial year 1968-69, 423 acres of land were acquired for forestry purposes in Leitrim and 238 acres in Sligo. In the first six months of the current year, 1969-70, 346 acres were acquired in Leitrim and 817 acres in Sligo.
Funds for the acquisition of land are not allocated on a county basis but the Deputy can be assured that the total available in the grant-in-aid fund is adequate to meet any demand.
The area of land which may be acquired over any given period depends mainly on the rate at which offers of suitable land come forward and price agreements are made and, more significantly, on the rate at which the legal formalities of purchase are completed. These matters are largely outside the control of my Department and I could not give an estimate of what lands may be acquired in 1970-71. Indications of future prospects may, however, be gained from the fact that at the 30th September, 1969, agreement had been reached for the purchase of 1,754 acres in Leitrim and 983 acres in Sligo.