Éamon Ó Cuív
Question:103 Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry his policy regarding the division of commonage where the vast majority of the shareholders are in favour of division. [4137/95]
Written Answers. - Commonage Division.
Under the Land Act, 1939, the Land Commission has the power to order the compulsory division of a commonage where some, but not all, of the shareholders request the division.The shareholders who do not favour the division have extensive rights of objection and appeal under the same Act. Of 417 applications for commonage division received in the period from 1983 to 1992 54 have been for the division of commonages using the compulsory powers of the Land Commission.
At present the Land Commission is awaiting the final result of an appeal to the High Court against a decision of the lay commissioners confirming a scheme to divide a commonage in County Mayo using compulsory procedures. In 1992 the court directed that certain matters in the Mayo case, including the question of compliance with planning legislation, should be clarified before the case was returned to the court. The matter was referred to An Board Pleanála, and the decision of An Bord Pleanála, which was delivered in 1993, was appealed to the High Court. This second appeal should be heard shortly and must be concluded before the original appeal is resolved. This is the first time that the legislation used in the compulsory division of commonages has been referred to the High Court and I propose to reassess the policy and procedures used in these cases in the light of the judgment of the High Court.