asked the Minister for Lands if he will state if it is the policy of the Land Commission to sell land to persons who cannot be classed as herds or labourers on farms acquired by the Land Commission, but who reside in houses on such land.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Sale of Land by Land Commission.
The classes of persons to whom advances for the purchase of parcels of untenanted land may be made by the Land Commission on the division of estates acquired under the Land Acts, 1923-39, are specified in Section 31 of the Land Act, 1923, and Section 33 of the Land Act, 1933. The persons to whom the question refers could be considered under Class F of Section 31 of the 1923 Act—that is: "Any other person or body to whom in the opinion of the Land Commission an advance ought to be made." The allotment of parcels of land to such persons would be entirely in the discretion of the Land Commission, and their claims would be considered on their merits, with due regard to the claims of other applicants and the area of land locally available for division. The mere tenancy of a house on land acquired by the Land Commission would not of itself give any right to allotment of land.