Vol. 512 No. 6
330 Mr. Perry asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands if, further to Parliamentary Question No. 136 of 14 October 1999, a decision has been made on the purchase of a sporting right (details supplied); if not, when a decision will be made; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27118/99]
I refer to my reply to Question No. 136 of 14 October 1999. I would like to further clarify the situation in regard to sporting rights. Only the management of the sporting rights reserved to the Land Commission currently rests with Dúchas, the heritage service of my Department. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development is the successor in title to the Land Commission and holds title to the sporting rights reserved to the Irish Land Commission. As Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands I do not hold title to sporting rights reserved to the Land Commission and accordingly I am not in a position to transfer title to sporting rights by way of purchase or otherwise.
It is the practice with Dúchas that, where there is no conservation reason for maintaining an interest and where the sporting rights are not leased to a third party, no objection is raised if a landowner applies for cancellation of the sporting rights reserved to the Land Commission. Application to extinguish the sporting rights reserved may be made to the Registrar of Titles under section 18 of the Land Act, 1965. It would be a matter for the landowner to make application under the Land Act, 1965, and to comply with any legal requirements in relation to such application.
I have recently received some further correspondence dated 21 November 1999 from the person in question regarding sporting rights, grazing rights and the title over an area of commonage in County Mayo. Most of the matters raised in the correspondence are of a complex legal nature in relation to title, succession and the exercise of various property rights on certain lands. These are issues which lie outside my remit but I have requested my officials to investigate the conservation status of the lands in question and I will write to the Deputy on this aspect.
