asked the Minister for Lands whether the Land Commission have instituted, or propose to institute, proceedings for the acquisition of the Hendy lands, formerly Pender Estate, at Kilcrow, Athy, County Kildare, for distribution among local uneconomic holders.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Acquisition of Athy Lands.
30.
Efforts made by the Land Commission to purchase this 130 acre holding on a voluntary basis were unsuccessful. The lands were subsequently sold by public auction last month to a native of the district and the Land Commission have decided not to proceed further in the matter.
Is the Land Commission not likely to modify its decision, in view of the fact that there are a number of uneconomic holders in the area? Unless this land is made available to them to make their holdings economic, it is unlikely that the smaller holdings will ever be brought into the economic category.
My information is that there is no apparent congestion in the area.
There is sufficient congestion and a sufficiency of small holdings to be able adequately to absorb the holding which has now been bought by a person who has sold a substantial holding merely for the purpose of buying in this particular area.
People might have to sell one holding to buy another but my information is that there is no congestion in the area.
Would the Minister at least have another look at the matter in view of what I say?
I will have the Deputy's views conveyed to the Land Commission.
Has the Minister not got on his file the list of local congests which was furnished to the Land Commission? Is this not a case in which the Minister is entitled, as of right, to ask the Land Commission to review the file again and would he do so if he has not already done so?
I have told Deputy Norton about the report on local conditions that I have before me and that there is no congestion in the area. In view of what Deputy Norton says, I will have the matter examined again but that is the information before me.
The Minister stated in reply to my question that the Land Commission sought to buy this on a voluntary basis. I assume they did that with a view to dividing it. If they were willing to acquire it for division on a voluntary basis, where were the small allottees and where——
The Land Commission can buy land on a voluntary basis only for limited and specific purposes, that is, for the relief of local intermixed holdings or for migrants' holdings. I assume that when the Land Commission were endeavouring to acquire this holding voluntarily, it was migrants they had in mind, in view of local conditions. As the law stands, they could not acquire it for any other purpose.
Is this not one of the cases in which the Minister has a statutory right to require the Land Commission to review the facts of the matter? He has a statutory right to send back a file.
The position in this case, as I know it, is that the Land Commission could hope to acquire these lands only on a voluntary basis and that their compulsory powers would not apply. They tried to acquire them on a voluntary basis and I assume from the information before me that it was migrants they had in mind because they could not work under that section of the 1950 Act except in relation to migrants.
Is this not one of the cases in which the Minister has a statutory right to request a review?
I do not think it is, but that is a separate question.
I am certain it is
31.
asked the Minister for Lands how the proceedings instituted by the Land Commission for the acquisition of 124 acres of the Owens lands at Ballyroe and Grangemellon, Athy, County Kildare now stand.
The statutory notices have been served on interested parties but the period within which objections may be lodged will not expire until the end of the present week. The total area involved is now 132 acres.