asked the Minister for Lands if the Land Commission received an application from Mr. John Rawl, Drumnacross, Moatefarrel, Edgeworthstown, County Longford, for a portion of the Bond Estate, Newtownbond, in lieu of the parcel which was allotted to him on the McDowell Hollinshead and another estate in Drumnacross, County Longford; and if he is aware that Mr. Rawl surrendered this parcel to the Land Commission on condition that it was reallotted to members of the McDowell family, and further if he is aware that Mr. Rawl has received a sheriff's notice for the annuity due although he has never had possession or use of the said lands, and further to ask if it is the Minister's intention to offer Mr. Rawl an alternative holding in Longford, Meath or Westmeath and migrate him from that district.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Longford Land Allotment.
The Land Commission received no notice from Mr. Rawl surrendering the parcel allotted to him on the estate of Hollinshead and another. Steps have therefore been taken to collect the rent due on the parcel of which he was placed in possession on the 4th April, 1934, and there is no evidence that he did not make use of the land allotted to him. The question of providing an alternative holding has not been considered. He was an applicant for a plot on the Bond Estate, Newtownbond, but as he had already been provided for on the Hollinshead lands, his application was not granted.
Arising out of the Minister's reply, is it not a fact that Mr. Rawl wrote a letter to the Land Commission surrendering this portion on condition that it would be allotted to the McDowell family?
My information is that no such letter has been received.
I can assure the Minister that such a letter was written and the reply from the Land Commission was a demand for the rent, though he never had possession. Is the Minister not aware that the Land Commission delayed in establishing the fences from the date he signed the agreement, and that the result was that he never got actual possession and has not yet, in fact, got possession? This is a very serious matter. There is a dispute about this particular land, and in view of the answer I have got I will have to give notice that I intend to raise it on the adjournment.