asked the Minister for Agriculture the amount of land held by the Land Commission in each county.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Land Commission Land
8.
The information requested is contained in a tabular statement which, with the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to circulate with the Official Report.
Following is the statement:
Lettable lands in possession of the Land Commission.
|
County |
Area (hectares) |
|
Carlow |
568 |
|
Cavan |
1,716 |
|
Clare |
1,710 |
|
Cork |
1,519 |
|
Donegal |
384 |
|
Dublin |
15 |
|
Galway |
3,625 |
|
Kerry |
474 |
|
Kildare |
394 |
|
Kilkenny |
611 |
|
Leitrim |
1,080 |
|
Laois |
1,292 |
|
Limerick |
480 |
|
Longford |
970 |
|
Louth |
63 |
|
Mayo |
1,559 |
|
Meath |
358 |
|
Monaghan |
555 |
|
Offaly |
953 |
|
Roscommon |
2,332 |
|
Sligo |
915 |
|
Tipperary |
731 |
|
Waterford |
230 |
|
Westmeath |
2,066 |
|
Wexford |
529 |
|
Wicklow |
615 |
Assuming that the position in other counties is the same as it is in County Meath, for which I got a reply the week before last, will the Minister explain why the Land Commission persist in holding on to farms they acquired many years ago? Will he tell the House why they have not brought the allocation of land up to date?
I can inform the Deputy that the position has changed radically in the past year. Last October the Government issued instructions to Land Commission inspectors to draw up resale schemes for the land they had in stock. Last year they submitted schemes amounting to 30,000 acres, which was the highest ever. We hope to continue that trend during the next few years until we have allocated the land in stock.
Will the Minister not agree that despite orders issued the Land Commission have land in their possession from as far back as 1962? There was very little change in the position last year and the only orders issued last October were that no further land was to be acquired by the Land Commission for the time being.
No such instructions were given. I accept that in the past land has been held for considerable periods of time. In many cases the reason was that the land Commission hoped to be in a position to acquire further land in the area and thus to draw up better schemes.
Now they have no money to buy land.
As I stated, the position has changed. In the next few years we intend to press ahead until the amount of land held by the Land Commission is reallocated.
As late as last week the Land Commission had land in their possession since 1962.
As I pointed out to the Deputy, instructions were given to the Land Commission last October to get rid of the land as quickly as possible.
(Cavan-Monaghan): Many Land Commission offices are grossly understaffed. For instance, the Cavan-Monaghan office is at an all-time low. Until the Minister gives the Land Commission staff to carry out work on the division of land it will not be done.
This has been a problem but it is not something which happened just recenthy. The Government have considered this aspect and they will be appointing additional staff to the Land Commission offices in the very near future.
(Cavan-Monaghan): I am very glad to hear it. In my view the Government have let the land Commission run down.
The Minister informed the House that the information requested was contained in a tabular statement. Will he identify the land in the various counties, not just give the block amount?
It is a long list. I think it would be unfair to give the Deputy details of the particular acreage which deals with Deputy Tully's question.
I am asking the Minister to identify the land—not just to mention, for example, 1,000 acres in Kildare or Meath.
If the Deputy puts down a question I will give him that information. Deputy Tully asked a different question.