asked the Minister for Lands the total acreage of land offered for letting this year.
17.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Land Letting.
16.
asked the Minister for Lands the highest and the lowest price per acre obtained for land offered for letting this year.
(Cavan): With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 and 17 together.
In the current year the Land Commission are offering approximately 58,000 acres for letting for grazing and meadow and 3,500 acres for tillage.
In respect of lettings made to date, the highest prices per acre obtained were £90 for tillage and £89 for grazing, while the lowest prices were £14 per acre for tillage and £4 per acre for grazing.
Is the Minister happy that operations of this nature are in keeping with the spirit of the Land Commission?
(Cavan): Would the Deputy mind elaborating?
The Land Commission, on my calculation, will receive approximately £1 million in respect of land they require for distribution. Does the Minister think it is a correct operation for the Land Commission to acquire land and hold it in some cases for eight, ten or 12 years and, in extreme cases, for 15 years letting it out at conacre at £90 an acre?
(Cavan): If there is such a period as 15 years it is a freak case. The most usual period is eight or nine years. The longest I would like to see land on hands is about two years. It is reasonable for the Land Commission to let land when they have it on hands. That goes without saying. It is also reasonable that they should get a reasonable price for it.
Is the Minister contending that the function of the Land Commission is to acquire land, pay in land bonds for it, and then proceed to hold it for several years and let it out at £90 or £100 per acre?
(Cavan): I am not saying any such thing. The Land Commission acquire land and pay for it in land bonds. I am glad to say the land bonds we used last year are standing at £105 and people who were paid in land bonds last year have reason to be glad that they received land bonds. I do not believe land should be kept on hands any longer than necessary and it is my desire that the Land Commission would expedite the division of land and, as I have said on numerous occasions here, I have strengthened the outdoor staff by over 20 since I became Minister with a view to expediting division.
There are two questions here. The Minister is talking about land for which he paid in current land bonds. I am talking about land acquired by the Minister through the medium of land bonds at 8, 9 or 12 per cent. He is now letting that land at £100 an acre.
(Cavan): I am not responsible for any land bought at 8 per cent or 9 per cent. That type of bond was not used in my time. Except in freak cases, where title was not cleared, I would be surprised if there is any land still in the hands of the Land Commission in exchange for land bonds bearing that rate of interest.
There is such land.
I have allowed a series of supplementaries. There are four Deputies offering. If Deputies want to debate this matter they will have to find another opportunity. I will allow a final supplementary.
Is it the policy of the Land Commission this year not to let land that has been out to grass for tillage in areas where there is a demand for tillage and where local farmers would prefer tillage to grazing? Secondly, where there is land for letting out they are using hay seed which is not fit to burn and the policy of the Land Commission so far as the supplying of lime is concerned is not on and has not been. It has not been the policy of the Land Commission to supply lime for lands that have been let for a number of years.
The Deputy seems to be introducing other matters now.
(Cavan): The Deputy seems to be for and against tillage. It is not the general policy of the Land Commission to let land for tillage. This is easy to understand because it runs into two or three years' operation but the Land Commission do let land for tillage where there is a request for it. As western Deputies know, there has been a request for it this year in the region of the Tuam beet factory and we have facilitated those who wanted land for tillage there.
The Minister has not answered my question.