I move:—
Since it is held or maintained by the Government that the amount of land available in the country for the relief of congestion is limited, Dáil Éireann is of the opinion that the public interest requires that the Land Commission should acquire the Rockingham Estate, Boyle, County Roscommon.
Since this motion appeared on the Order Paper very good news was conveyed to the people in the area in which this estate is situated. I want to express my sincere appreciation to the present Minister for Lands for the part he played in ensuring that this large estate was held for the purpose of relieving congestion among the Irish people. I regret very much that the present Minister had not the opportunity of using his weight and influence since Fianna Fáil took office a few years ago to ensure that other equally-precious estates were taken over rather than having many of them pass into the hands of aliens. I am convinced that, had there been no change in the Ministry of Lands in recent months Rockingham demesne would, in all probability, have been divided by the owner into four or five lots and sold to the highest bidders. Alternatively, it would have been purchased by an outsider and, in my opinion, that would have been a tragic blow to the hopes of small farmers in the area who for the last 40 years have anxiously waited for Government action in regard to this estate.
The estate has been acquired but I understand that no steps have so far been taken by the Land Commission to acquire the shooting and fishing rights. As Deputies are aware, approximately 40,000 acres of shooting and fishing rights are attached to this estate. These rights, in my opinion, are part and parcel of the estate and consequently should be taken over by the Land Commission with the estate itself. The Land Commission could then, when allocating the farms, vest in the tenants the shooting and fishing rights of the particular area over the land and water that they hold.
It may be suggested in a moment that there is no pressure or demand from the small farmers in the locality for these rights but I suggest to the Minister that demand is bound to come when the land is being divided. I think it would be deplorable to leave the land holders in the position that the shooting and fishing rights which should normally belong to or be vested in them would be acquired by, say, a company composed of solicitors in Dublin or in London, or a group of people who might for commercial exploitation lease the shooting and fishing rights from the present owner, Sir Cecil Stafford King-Harmon.
I feel sure that the former owner of this estate has no objection to the Land Commission acquiring the shooting and fishing rights. Consequently, I think the Minister should ensure that, having gone so far, the Land Commission will go that little step further and take over the estate, lock, stock and barrel.
The Minister is aware that at the moment in Boyle there is a development company which purports to attract tourists to visit the lovely, picturesque beauty spots in North Roscommon and that this development company is interested in leasing the shooting and fishing rights. However desirable it may be to attract tourists, I suggest to the Minister that it would be wrong in principle to allow any such company, in Boyle or any other place, to make a bargain to lease these shooting and fishing rights over the heads of the people who will in future be the vested holders of the land which will be divided.
First of all, let the Minister acquire the shooting and fishing rights and vest them in the tenants. Then if a development company in Boyle desires to lease the shooting and fishing rights from the tenants, that is a matter which can be considered. It might be a desirable step in order to protect the shooting and fishing rights and possible development. We all know that the question of poaching arises wherever people have no respect for the laws in operation with regard to shooting and fishing over certain areas. We all know that the best protectors of fishing and shooting rights are the local people, if they have a sense of responsibility. The best way to give them a sense of responsibility is to make them owners.
I do not think that at this stage the Minister will object to my line of approach on this because I read very recently in the daily papers that the Minister congratulated a number of game associations in County Roscommon for the energetic approach they made towards improving sporting facilities. I feel that the Minister in congratulating those people had in mind the fact that first-class facilities would be available on this estate and that if the individuals concerned were in a position to meet the tenants on the Rockingham estate they would possibly form a good club in their own interests and in the interests of the general public. A good club devoted to shooting and fishing does not need the protection of bailiffs, guards or any other public officials. The best protectors in that regard are the people themselves, who, as owners, will be quite alert to ensure that there is no exploitation or depredation, as far as the sporting rights are concerned.
Now that the decision has been taken to acquire the Rockingham demesne, I should like to impress upon the Minister that there should be no delay in his Department in preparing the necessary scheme. I understand— and I am sure that every Deputy understands—that it takes a considerable time for the Land Commission to prepare a proper and suitable scheme of division. I make this statement now in the hope that it will come to the notice of the people in the locality who, at the moment, seem to have taken the view that the estate should be divided within the next two or three months. I want it to be understood that it will take the Land Commission a considerable length of time to prepare a suitable scheme.
I should be the last to ask the Land Commission to rush the job and make a hash of it, but at the same time I do not want to have this estate put on the long finger for two or three years. We had the experience before with various farms and estates all over the country where the Land Commission set these lands and when the tenants got their allocations, the land in many cases had been made very poor, practically mined in many instances, by speculators and others who had no real interest in conserving the fertility of the soil but whose sole object was to get as much out of the land as they possibly could while the going was good.
While I do not want the scheme itself rushed, I would ask the Minister to see that no time is lost in initiating and preparing the scheme.
Again, I want to express my thanks to him for one of the first actions he did on becoming Minister for Lands. If he keeps up that start, he will be doing a good day's work for the people in rural Ireland who have with patience over the years looked on while the best land in the country passed out of the hands and control of Irishmen.