asked the Minister for Lands if he will limit sales of grazing land on Land Commission estates to purchasers within the same distance as applies in the case of those who may obtain divisions on a permanent basis.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers (Resumed). - Land Commission Grazing Land.
60.
(Cavan): I have recently had the position in relation to the letting of Land Commission land examined and the prevailing view is that letting by public auction is, by and large, the fairest system that can be devised and the one least likely to give cause for complaints. Every effort will, of course, continue to be made to offer lands in lots of a size suitable to the requirements of local smallholders and in exceptional circumstances, where hardship is seen to exist, lettings may be made by private treaty.
The Minister mentioned some six months ago that he would try to have negotiated terms in certain cases. In my constituency there is some agitation where locals are prevented from taking options or taking land. In cases like that would the Minister not consider making arrangements for private negotiations with the commissioners?
(Cavan): The Deputy is not strictly correct when he says that six months ago I stated that I would alter the system of letting land.
He would consider it.
(Cavan): What I did say then was that I was having the matter investigated. That investigation has now been completed, and I have been advised, and I accept, that by and large the fairest system of letting land is to let it by public auction. However, as I have suggested in my reply, in exceptional cases where for one reason or another hardship is apparent, then the Land Commission will adopt a system of private treaty.
Is the Minister aware that in such cases it is small local farmers who have the main complaint about the big rancher from far away who buys up the place? I know it is an abuse, and I am also aware that there could be a local circle of small fellows—I am fully familiar with the situation. However, the local men would be the obvious people to get division of the land, and they should be considered for the yearly sale inside the distance, that is, if the Minister applies the same distance as is applied in the divsion of land.
(Cavan): The difficulty about that is that it might depress the bidding to a ridiculous level.
I know that.
(Cavan): As I have said in my reply, we shall continue to offer land in smallish lots and that should suit the small man in the area unless, as the Deputy says, they all co-operate in taking it for the big fellow outside, and that is something it is not possible to guard against.
61.
asked the Minister for Lands if he will ensure that purchasers of grazing land on Land Commission estates have brucellosis-free herds before sale is completed.
(Cavan): I am very conscious of the importance of the campaign to eradicate brucellosis and I am anxious that my Department should play its part to the full. At my request, the Land Commission are consulting with the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries to ascertain what action is required of them and how best they can assist in bringing the campaign to a successful conclusion.
Why I asked the question is that in the last couple of weeks I came across a few cases of a brucellosis-free area where grazing land was offered for sale and it was bought by people who had a brucellosis-infected herd. I imagine it would be an easy matter to have the auctioneer ask the likely purchaser if he had a brucellosis-free herd.
(Cavan): The Deputy may take it I certainly would not approve of land in a brucellosis-free area being let to a herd owner whose herd was infected with brucellosis. I would strongly disapprove of that. The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries are the experts on the eradication of brucellosis, and I think the best method for me to adopt is to ask the advice of that Department and to act on it, and I have done that.