Dáil Éireann - Volume 30 - 22 May, 1929

Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Pollock Estate, County Galway.

Proinnsias O Fathaigh asked the Minister for Lands and Fisheries if he will state what price has been paid by the Land Commission for the Pollock estate, Co. Galway; whether all timber and the dwelling-house have been reserved; whether in fixing the rents on the new tenants allowance has been made for such reservations; whether any Valuation official visited the lands in question; if so, at what date or dates; if not, on what principle were the separate holdings valued; whether the Land Commission inspectors promised to have out-offices built for the tenants; and, if so, when will those promises be fulfilled, and what has caused the delay.

Mr. Roddy: The price paid by the Land Commission for these lands was £30,000. The timber and dwelling-house have been reserved pending offers therefor.

The rents fixed for each of the allotments were based on the valuation [14] of the lands included therein. No promise was made that the Land Commission would build out-offices.

The Land Commission cannot say whether officials of the Commissioner of Valuation have visited the lands.

Mr. Fahy: I submit that the Parliamentary Secretary has not answered portion of the question. The question I put was: “On what principle were the separate holdings valued; if the Department is aware whether the Valuation inspectors visited them or not?” Perhaps the Parliamentary Secretary would explain why these tenants who got this land are being charged roughly £1 an acre while similar land on the same estate is only paying 10/- an acre; and whether it would be possible to revise the rents so that the tenants could have rents fixed that they would be able to pay?

Mr. Roddy: The estate was valued as a whole and it would be quite impossible to give the details of the valuation. I do not know at the moment what annuities are fixed in respect of the holdings already divided, but that is really a different question.