I beg to move amendment 1 :—
Section 2, sub-section (1). To delete paragraph (c) and to substitute therefor the following words :—
" The Minister may also grant to the Society by way of lease for any period not exceeding ninety-nine years any land situate in Saorstát Eireann which is for the time being vested in the Minister by statute, deed, contract, or otherwise."
Paragraph (c) deals with the transfer from the Minister to the Society of any land situate in Saorstát Eireann which is for the time being vested in the Minister by statute, deed, contract, or otherwise. It seems to me that there are agricultural lands which are, or may be, vested in the Minister under the Land Act of 1923, and while it is not at all the intention of the Minister, even with the consent of the Minister for Finance, to vest in the Society any such lands, we would be making it possible under the Bill as it stands for such lands to be vested in the Society. In my view we should not make possible any such thing. Secondly, this paragraph (c) is intended to deal more particularly with buildings on lands that were transferred by the C.D. Board to the Ministry for the use of the fishery industry. No doubt it is the intention of the Minister only to vest such building lands in the Society. We have not any knowledge, except a very general knowledge, of what the lands are. As a matter of principle, it would seem to me to be undesirable in any case that land which is State property should be transferred entirely to a private organisation such as the Fisheries Association. I think it is contrary to Article 11 of the Constitution. I must assume that the Ministry is a Department of State. Article 11 says :—
All the land and waters, mines and minerals, within the territory of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) hitherto vested in the State, or any Department thereof, or held for the public use or benefit, and also all the natural resources of the same territory (including the air and all forms of potential energy) . . . shall, from and after the date of the coming into operation of this Constitution, belong to the Irish Free State. . . . but the same . . . may in the public interest be from time to time granted by way of lease or licence to be worked or enjoyed under the authority and subject to the control of the Oireachtas : Provided that no such lease or licence may be made for a term exceeding ninety-nine years. . . .
I do not know what the technical meaning of the word " vested " may be, but I am assuming that it practically means handing over entirely, and it transfers the estate which the Minister has to the Society. I think that should be subject to the limitations of the State Lands Act, and the lease or licence should be for a limited period. There is no such limit in this section. It is not a sufficient answer to say that there is only £2,000 or £3,000 worth of property. So far as we are concerned, we are dealing with the principle of transferring the land which the Minister as a Department of the State possesses to a private association without any check whatever except the check of the Minister for Finance. My amendment will allow the Minister to grant to the Society lands by way of a lease for a term not exceeding ninety-nine years, which is the Constitutional provision. The amendment would still allow the Minister to do for a period of ninety-nine years what he proposes to do in the Bill, but it would not vest wholly in the Society the estate which is at present vested in the Minister.