asked the Minister for Lands if he will state the number of acres of land in West Galway offered to the Forestry Division for afforestation purposes in 1955, 1956, 1957 and 1958; whether they were all accepted as suitable; and if inspections have been carried out on all lands offered.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - West Galway Forestry Land.
10.
Forestry acquisition statistics are kept on a county basis and they are not available in a form which would readily enable me to furnish information in the manner requested by the Deputy.
For Co. Galway as a whole the gross total of areas offered to the Forestry Division in the financial years 1955/56, 1956/57, 1957/58, and 1958/59 were 2,686 acres, 10,926 acres, 2,019 acres and 7,678 acres, respectively. In the same years the total areas required for forestry in the county were 2,541 acres, 1,674 acres, 775 acres and 3,119 acres, respectively.
On 31st March, 1959, there were 226 areas with a gross total area of 17,221 acres on offer to the Forestry Division in Co. Galway. Offers had been accepted in 40 cases with a total area of 2,821 acres and negotiations for the purchase of 24 areas totalling 2,673 acres were in progress. Of the balance 109 cases involving a total of 4,155 acres had been inspected and further enquiries were being made and there were 53 cases totalling 7,572 acres at the preliminary investigation stages.