I move:—
That a sum not exceeding £765,609 be granted to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending the 31st day of March, 1949, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Offices of the Minister for Lands and of the Irish Land Commission (44 & 45 Vict., c. 49, sec. 46, and c. 71, sec. 4; 48 & 49 Vict., c. 73, secs. 17, 18 and 20; 54 & 55 Vict., c. 48; 3 Edw. 7, c. 37; 7 Edw. 7, c. 38 and c. 56; 9 Edw. 7, c. 42; Nos. 27 and 42 of 1923; No. 25 of 1925; No. 11 of 1926; No. 19 of 1927; No. 31 of 1929; No. 11 of 1931; Nos. 33 and 38 of 1933; No. 11 of 1934; No. 41 of 1936; No. 26 of 1939; and No. 12 of 1946).
Contrary to the opinion of many the work of the Department of Lands in this country is of the utmost importance. The Irish Land Commission of to-day is the successor of the Congested Districts Board, the Irish Land Commission and the Estates Commissioners which were established under British occupation in this country to deal with the question of congestion and the granting of ownership of the farm to the farmer. Since our own Government was set up here that work has gone on sometimes slowly, sometimes accelerated but, nevertheless, aiming at one goal. That goal was, and is to-day, the relieving of congestion, the raising of uneconomic holdings to economic standard, and the placing of as many people as economically possible on the land and making each man complete owner of his own holding.
Despite the activity of my Department for the last 26 years there still remains an evil in our midst which has to be eradicated. I am referring to the congested areas, that lie particularly along the western seaboard, from Donegal to Kerry. That does not say that pockets of congestion do not exist in a great many inland and eastern counties besides. I want to bring to the notice of the House that it is the policy of the present Government to place in first priority the ending of congestion and the raising of uneconomic holdings to economic level.
When I took office on the 18th February last, I found that owing to a "close-down Order" on the acquisition of land in the midland and eastern areas where the Land Commission must look to form a reservoir of land out of which they can come to the relief of the classes I have mentioned, there was no land on hands. Since this restriction Order was imposed the amount of land then on hands gradually disappeared in the form of migrants' holdings, allotments, etc., and to-day there is none on hands worth mentioning. Shortly after I took office, with the permission of the Government, I removed these restrictions and my Department is now forging ahead with the work of acquiring land for our statutory purposes. The problem of acquiring land is slow. Each particular case, whether acquisition or resumption, must be examined carefully by the commissioners and before a decision is reached they must be thoroughly satisfied that no injustice is being done to the person from whom the land is being acquired or resumed or that the Constitution is being violated.
Once land is acquired it is not always an easy matter to prepare a suitable scheme of either giving the land to allottees in the form of additions to their present holdings or blocking out a farm into complete holdings equipped with fences, gates, dwelling-houses and out-offices, suitable for a migrant. Building materials are still in short supply but I am looking to the Minister for Industry and Commerce to come to my assistance in this matter.
Now, I will turn to another aspect of our duty—the user of land allotted as new holdings or additions to existing holdings. As I pointed out to Deputy Ormonde in reply to a Parliamentary Question on the 25th instant, those who have been allotted holdings by the Land Commission and who have not used them according to the terms of their agreement will receive short shrift at my hands. In the congested areas there are thousands of small farmers trying to eke out an existence on perhaps three or four acres of wretched land, sometimes reclaimed from the moor, who would gladly use such lands if they were given a chance to do so. I have the greatest contempt for the spirit of the person who was allotted a holding of land fully equipped with nice dwelling-house and out-office, fences, etc., and who did not think it worth his while to work the land as he was expected to do because he gave his signature to do that when signing the agreement with the Land Commission. I might say here at this stage that it has never come to my notice that a small farmer who surrendered a holding in a congested area and who was granted a migrant's holding has ever used his land badly. This is a pointer to the commissioners as to where they should seek for the best type of person to whom a holding should be allotted.
Now I do not want my attitude towards the above type to be confused with my attitude towards a different problem of user of land—that is, the person who got an addition to his existing small holding. In such a case I hold that it is the holding that got the addition rather than the farmer and, for that reason, should not be separated from it, and while it is deplorable that additions should not be worked according to the terms of the agreement I realise fully that in many cases those who have been granted additions through some unforeseen circumstances may have to sublet the additions. It is the aim of the Land Commission to raise uneconmic holdings to an economic standard by way of additions and it is quite obvious that the taking back of that addition creates two problems at once. The first is, who is to get the addition, and, secondly, a new uneconomic holding has been created thereby.
Many Deputies are, I presume, anxiously awaiting a statement on policy from me. It might be summed up in a few words—that congestion is an evil which we must at all costs try to eliminate and to which I intend to devote all my energy during my term of office. Side by side with that—the twin brother of congestion—is the question of the small uneconomic holdings. These two questions go hand-in-hand and will receive first priority in the future. Some people regard the Land Commission as an all-devouring monster going around seeking farms they can devour.
Such is not the case. I know quite well that almost all farmers do not like to give up their land but, at the same time, we do not acquire without giving compensation according to the law laid down here in this House. In order to relieve congestion we must acquire land somewhere and, naturally, we have to look to the big farms to do so. We will also acquire or resume small holdings if they become non-residential in areas where the general run of holdings is small and needs enlarging. It is not the intention to resume or acquire holdings that may be non-residential at the moment through the owner having to seek employment elsewhere temporarily because of the poverty imposed on him by the smallness of such holding.
With regard to the Estimate itself, the provision for travelling expenses is increased by £1,000 in view of increases in bus and rail fares and in the rates of subsistence and mileage allowances and also in anticipation of the filling, during the year, of some of the vacancies on the inspectorate and survey staffs.
Last year's Estimate under sub-head I proved to be in excess of requirements. It is difficult at the best of times to forecast what the Land Commission may be in a position to spend on estate improvement works in the year ahead. In present conditions, with building activities still restricted by the shortage and increased cost of materials, it is particularly hard to say in advance what the requirements will be under this head. The reopening of land acquisition activities within the congested districts counties will, from now onwards, be reflected both in the amounts required for the purchase of tenants' interests in holdings resumed by the Land Commission on Congested Districts Board estates and in the expenditure on estate improvements. It is to be expected that last year's expenditure, which amounted to £222,871, will be exceeded during the coming 12 months. The Estimate is, therefore, repeated at last year's figure of £254,800.
Such changes as appear on the remaining sub-heads hardly call for particular comment. The most noticeable is that under sub-head N, in which there is a reduction of £3,250 in the amount sought for advances to provide funds for the maintenance of embankments. Requirements under this sub-head are liable to vary from year to year, and the sharp decrease this year is explained by the fact that exceptional provision was included last year for particular works then under consideration.
With regard to the general work of the Land Commission during the past year, there are very creditable achievements to report in the important fields of post-division and tenanted-land work. The Land Commission have been concentrating their efforts on the accumulation of arrears arising out of the uncompleted division work of past years, and on the tenanted land estates. Last year's work has achieved a record output of 16,354 holdings and allotments revested in the tenants and allottees compared with the output of 10,192 vestings during the previous year. This represents satisfactory progress, but it still leaves arrears of some 58,000 holdings of tenanted land awaiting revesting in the tenants as well as some 37,000 parcels of untenanted land yet to be vested in the allottees. The clearing off of these arrears constitutes an essential task for the immediate future.
With regard to the unvested parcels of untenanted land, the allottees who have made good, and have faithfully observed the conditions of their agreements, are entitled to be finally established on their parcels within a reasonable time and these cases should be cleared out of the way before the resumption of land division operations adds too heavily to their number.
Of the unvested tenanted-land holdings a very big proportion, including some 15,000 holdings on estates of the former Congested Districts Board, will require enlargement, rearrangement or improvement in some way such as housing, drainage, fencing and road accommodation. While these holdings and parcels remain on hands they involve the Land Commission in problems and responsibilities and draw upon the Department a mass of correspondence which has the effect of seriously retarding productive effort. The situation can be relieved only by final vesting and it is my intention to see that the vesting drive is vigorously pursued so as to secure that the pressing burden of arrears is substantially reduced in as short a time as possible.
Conditions in the congested areas, and particularly on the old unsold estates of the Congested Districts Board to which I have already referred, set the Land Commission its most important task in the sphere of land settlement. My personal knowledge of the appalling conditions still prevalent in many parts of the West leaves me in no doubt as to the shape which our future land settlement programme should assume. It must have for its primary object the relief of congestion wherever it exists, but chiefly in those districts in the West where the necessity is the greatest. This work for the relief of congestion has, in the past, suffered too many delays and interruptions. It depends, of course, on the acquisition of suitable land in sufficient quantities as well as on an adequate supply of building materials, and the most recent hold-up of the war years has led to a progressive decline in the acreages acquired and divided each year. The year just closed has resulted in the division of some 13,500 acres. The area acquired during the year was 9,741 acres.
Investigations should, from now onwards, begin to show a return in the shape of completed acquisitions of land in the congested districts counties, particularly as a legal difficulty which existed for some time in relation to the resumption of land by the Land Commission has been removed. But the lands available in the congested districts themselves are quite insufficient for the needs of the situation. If a serious contribution is to be made to a solution of the problem, such lands as can be acquired outside the congested areas will have to be utilised to the maximum extent for the accommodation of migrants. The position arising from the continued hold-up of land acquisition outside the scheduled congested districts has been under consideration by the Government and they are satisfied that the extent and urgency of the congestion problem demand that there should be a further relaxation of restrictions. It has been decided that the Land Commission shall from now on be free to proceed with the acquisition of land which can be used entirely or almost entirely for the relief of congestion by migration or for the relief of local congestion.
This does not mean that lands are going to become available for division immediately. Land acquisition cannot be made a rapid process. The Government's decision, however, does mean that the way will be cleared for further progress to land settlement.
In conclusion, I ask the assistance and cordial co-operation of all Deputies, no matter to what Party they belong, and I am particularly addressing this to the Opposition, as my work can be severely hampered by Deputies who may wish to score over their colleagues in their constituencies. As I have already said, my Department has a big job of work in front of it and it is only by the greatest co-operation from all Deputies that we will succeed in eliminating the evil of congestion and small uneconomic holdings which has been handed down to us as a loathsome legacy from the dark days of our history and to remedy which some of our bravest men in the past, foremost amongst them Michael Davitt, of my own county, have given their lives.
