asked the Minister for Lands why the Land Commission have withdrawn proceedings in regard to the Lyons Estate, The Island, Abbeyleix, Laois; if steps will be taken to have these lands, which are now for sale by public auction, purchased and acquired in order to provide additional land for the numerous local smallholders; and if he will receive a deputation from the local land committee without delay in regard to the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Abbeyleix (Laois) Estate.
68.
The Land Commission have served notice of withdrawal in this case pursuant to Section 24, Land Act, 1927, as they consider that the price fixed by the Appeal Tribunal for the property is such as to make the purchase of the lands inexpedient. Provided that no objection is lodged on behalf of the owner within the prescribed time, this Notice will have the effect of terminating the acquisition proceedings. As the determination of lands to be acquired is an excepted matter reserved to the Land Commissioners, no useful purpose would be served by my receiving a deputation in regard to the estate.
Am I to take it now that the Land Commission are not prepared to pay the market price for land?
No. The Deputy can take it from this reply that the Land Commission are not prepared to pay an unrealistic price for land and the law so provides.
Will the Taoiseach take note of the manner in which the Minister for Lands describes a decision of the Judicial Commissioner?
I have given my view of the price fixed for these lands. This is not the only occasion on which the Land Commission have withdrawn from operations of this kind. It has been done regularly almost every single year over a long number of years when the Land Commission considered the evidence of price unrelated to the market value of land.