To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether there are any owners of land in Ireland who have refused to sell untenanted land, required for the purpose of restoring evicted tenants to holdings, to the Estates Commissioners after being offered a price which the land might be expected to realise if sold in the open market.
( Answered by MR. Birrell.) The Estates Commissioners inform me that certain owners have refused to sell untenanted land to them for the purpose of restoring evicted tenants. The prices offered by the Commissioners in such cases were estimated in accordance with the provisions of the Act. In all cases the Commissioners offer what they consider to be the value of the land for the purposes entrusted to them by Parliament, and this is ascertained by inspection of the land itself.