asked the Minister for Lands if he will state how many purchases of land for the relief of congestion have been made at public auctions in County Galway under the provisions of the Land Act, 1950, whether regulations governing the application of these provisions have been made, and, if so, what restrictions, if any, are imposed on such application.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - County Galway Land Purchase.
The answer to the first part of the question is one, though in addition four holdings have been purchased by private treaty.
There are no legal restrictions on the application of Section 27 of the Land Act, 1950, other than those contained in the section itself. In practice however the purchase of lands for cash is restricted by the amount of money voted for this purpose each year under the appropriate sub-head.
Because of this financial limitation it has been decided that for an experimental period the application of the section should be limited to those counties in which it is thought that it can be of the most use. For the present, these are taken to be the nine counties of the congested districts and County Meath.
Can the Parliamentary Secretary say if all the money allocated for purchases of this kind has been expended?
I do not know.