asked the Minister for Lands and Agriculture if he is aware that the Congested Districts Board purchased the J. B. Ormsby Estate, Ballyheane, Co. Mayo, in 1914; that twenty-eight tenants on the estate, whose names have been furnished to the Department, paid fines varying from £30 to £150 for additions to their holdings, and that as their holdings are not yet vested they are paying over £30 per annum in excess of their annuities to the Land Commission; whether those tenants will be refunded the amounts paid to the Land Commission over and above their annuities during the past twelve years, and when the lands will be vested.
WRITTEN ANSWER. - THE ORMSBY ESTATE (CO. GALWAY).
Mr. HOGAN
The late Congested Districts Board made an offer for the purchase of the estate of J. B. Ormsby, County Mayo, which was accepted by the owner in 1914, but the lands were not vested in the Board until 25th February, 1923.
The estate consisted almost entirely of tenanted land, and to improve the holdings the Board acquired the tenancy interest in three holdings comprising 362 acres. These lands were allotted to tenants on the estate who in the year 1920 entered into tenancy agreements with the Board and at the same time undertook to enter into agreements for the purchase of their improved holdings when called upon to do so. The cash payments made by the tenant represent part of the price paid by the Board for the tenancy interests referred to. Pending the signing of purchase agreements the tenancy agreements provided for the payment of interest on the respective purchase moneys. The Land Commission cannot make a refund.