Vol. 477 No. 4
120 Dr. O'Hanlon asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the number of trust lands under the control of the Land Commission on a county by county basis; the area in each case; the proposals, if any, he has to dispose of these lands; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9492/97]
Over the years the Land Commission provided many hundreds of plots of land for use by local communities as sports fields, cow parks, etc. and set up trusts to oversee their management. My Department continues to be responsible for servicing these trusts, i.e., for replacing trustees, etc., when required. In 1993-94 a review of policy in this area was carried out within my Department and it was decided that, where possible under the provisions of the Land Purchase Acts, responsibility for management and control of trust lands should be transferred to users and that "obsolete" trusts should be revoked. In order to pursue this course each trust case must be considered in the context of its own individual circumstances and the future of each trust estate must be decided accordingly.
Over the years no register of trust was kept and it would not be possible, without an inordinate diversion of scarce staff resources, to provide the detailed information sought. If the Deputy is concerned about a particular trust or trusts, I will arrange to have information on these conveyed to him on receipt of the necessary particulars.
