PART II.—LAND PURCHASE.

18. —Save and except purchase agreements between the Land Commission and purchasers from them no purchase agreement between landlord and tenant for the sale of a holding under the Land Purchase Acts shall after the passing of this Act be lodged with the Land Commission.

19. —(1) In the case of every holding to which this Act applies rent and arrears of rent accrued due up to and including the gale day next preceding the date of the passing of this Act shall not be payable by the tenant and no proceedings against the tenant for recovery of arrears of rent shall be begun, continued or enforced after the passing of this Act.

There shall be payable by the tenant to the Land Commission a sum hereinafter referred to as “compounded arrears of rent” ascertained as provided in the sub-section following.

(2) Compounded arrears of rent shall be a sum equivalent to the total rent and arrears of rent due on the gale day next preceding the passing of this Act in respect of rent accrued since the first gale day in the year 1920 less a deduction of 25 per cent.: Provided that any payments made by the tenant after the second gale day in the year 1920 shall be appropriated to the rent which accrued since the first gale day in that year. In any case where a hanging gale is customary any payment of rent shall be deemed to have been made in respect of the gale next after the gale in respect of which it was actually made.

(3) Compounded arrears of rent shall be payable, as to so much thereof as does not exceed 75 per cent. of the annual rent, immediately after the date of the passing of this Act and as to the balance, if any, on such date or dates before the appointed day as may be prescribed by the Land Commission: Provided that in any case where not less than three years' arrears are due and the tenant so requests in the prescribed manner one half-year's compounded arrears of rent shall be added to the purchase money and repaid by means of a purchase annuity calculated at the rate of 4¾ per cent. on the amount thereof added to and consolidated with the standard purchase annuity for the holding.

(4) Compounded arrears of rent shall be collected and accounted for to the person or persons entitled thereto by the Land Commission in accordance with rules made by them: Provided that the Land Commission shall when paying over the amount collected first deduct therefrom income tax and such sum to go towards costs of collection as the Land Commission consider reasonable and proper.

(5) Where any money has been levied or recovered by a landlord after the 28th day of May, 1923, under or in consequence of any judgment or decree in any proceedings against the tenant of a holding to which this Act applies for the recovery of rent or in ejectment, then—

(a) if such money shall have been levied or recovered prior to the 3rd day of July, 1923, and so much thereof as consisted of rent exceeds the sum to which compounded arrears of rent would have otherwise amounted; or

(b) if such money shall have been so levied or recovered on or after the 3rd day of July, 1923, and the entire amount thereof (including rent, costs and expenses) exceeds the sum to which compounded arrears of rent would have otherwise amounted;

the difference between such rent or such entire amount (including rent, costs and expenses) as the case may be and the sum to which compounded arrears of rent would have otherwise amounted shall be set off against the moneys to become payable by the tenant in lieu of rent as hereinafter provided and the equivalent payment by the Land Commission shall be proportionately reduced.

20. —(1) In the case of every holding to which this Act applies rent shall not be payable by the tenant in respect of any period after the gale day next preceding the date of the passing of this Act. There shall be payable by the tenant to the Land Commission as from the gale day next preceding the date of the passing of this Act an annual sum in lieu of rent equivalent to

75 per cent. of the annual rent to which the holding was subject at the passing of this Act

which sum is hereinafter referred to as “payment in lieu of rent.”

(2) Payment in lieu of rent shall be collected by the Land Commission in accordance with rules made by them.

(3) Payment in lieu of rent shall continue to be payable up to the appointed day.

(4) There shall be payable by the Land Commission to the person or persons entitled to receive the same a sum equal to the amount to be collected as payment in lieu of rent, from the gale day next preceding the date of the passing of this Act up to the appointed day, less income tax and such deduction towards cost of such collection as the Land Commission shall consider reasonable and proper. This sum, less such deductions as aforesaid, shall be paid in equal half-yearly instalments and in accordance with rules made by the Land Commission.

(5) If the interest of any person entitled to receive the rent of a holding or holdings shall not be sufficient to constitute him a person having power to sell to tenants under the Land Purchase Acts, any rent payable by him to the next superior landlord in respect of the holding or holdings shall be reduced by 25 per cent., and, if necessary for the purpose of ascertaining the rent payable by such person in respect of the lands comprised in the holding or holdings, any rent payable by him shall be apportioned by the Land Commission as the justice of the case may require. Similar provisions shall apply and proportionate reductions shall be made in the case of any superior rents payable by any superior landlords who have not an interest sufficient to constitute them persons entitled to sell under the Land Purchase Acts.

21. —(1) The Land Commission shall have for the recovery of compounded arrears of rent and payment in lieu of rent the same remedies as a landlord has for recovery of rent as well as the same remedies as they have for the recovery of unpaid instalments of a purchase annuity.

(2) Where, owing to the death or absence of the tenant of a holding or otherwise, a difficulty arises in ascertaining in whom the tenancy of a holding is vested the Land Commission may, if the tenant is dead and there is no legal personal representative of such tenant or no legal personal representative whose services are available, appoint any person to be administrator of the deceased tenant, limited to the purposes of all proceedings under this Act in relation to the holding up to the appointed day, and if the tenant is absent or if, in their opinion, it is otherwise necessary, nominate any person to represent the tenant for the purposes aforesaid. The person so appointed or nominated, while acting in such capacity, shall have the right as against all parties to enter into receipt of the profits of the holding or of the rents payable by the subtenant thereon and shall be liable to the Land Commission for compounded arrears of rent and payment in lieu of rent payable under the provisions of this Act.

(3) The Land Commission may, if they think fit, employ in the collection of compounded arrears of rent and payment in lieu of rent any land agent, solicitor or land clerk nominated by the immediate landlord, or in default of such nomination, selected by them on such terms as to remuneration and otherwise as may be prescribed by rules made by them.

22. —(1) It shall be the duty of every landlord and of every person receiving rents and profits on his behalf to furnish to the Land Commission within the prescribed time and in the prescribed form such particulars as they may require for the purpose of the collection of compounded arrears of rent and payment in lieu of rent, and the Land Commission shall have power to require any person paying rent to any other person in respect of a holding to give such particulars with respect to the holding as they may so require.

(2) If any person fails to give any information which he is required to furnish under this section within the prescribed time or knowingly furnishes any information which is false in any material particular, he shall on summary conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.

(3) Any question arising between a tenant and a landlord regarding the accuracy of any particulars furnished pursuant to this section shall be determined by the Land Commission in accordance with rules made by them, save that in the case of a holding subject to a judicial rent the record filed in the Land Commission shall be final and conclusive in all matters appearing thereon except that where the judicial rent was fixed before the 1st day of April, 1899, the adjustment provided for by section 54 of the Local Government Act, 1898, shall be taken into account in determining the amount of rent, and save that any question as to whether an agreement for an abated rent was in fact an agreement for anew rent or any question as to the amount from which the deduction of 25 per cent. is to be made in ascertaining compounded arrears of rent and payment in lieu of rent shall be determined by the Judicial Commissioner, whose decision shall be final.

23. —(1) Where a holding to which this Act applies is sublet in whole or in part the rent payable by any subtenant to the tenant thereof shall, as from the gale day next preceding the date of the passing of this Act, be reduced by 25 per cent.

(2) No tenant shall be entitled to recover from a subtenant any greater sum in respect of arrears of rent than a sum ascertained in like manner as compounded arrears of rent are to be ascertained under this Act.

(3) This section shall not apply to any subletting made for the purpose of temporary depasturage, agistment or conacre, or for temporary convenience or to meet a temporary necessity.

24. —(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act and notwithstanding anything contained in any other enactment, all tenanted land wherever situated and all untenanted land situated in any congested districts county and such untenanted land situated elsewhere as the Land Commission shall, before the appointed day, declare to be required for the purpose of relieving congestion or of facilitating the resale of tenanted land, shall by virtue of this Act vest in the Land Commission on the appointed day, in the like manner and with the like consequences as if vesting orders under the Land Purchase Acts had been made on the appointed day in respect thereof in pursuance of subsequent purchase agreements entered into by the Land Commission with the respective owners of the lowest interest in the land constituting an interest saleable under the Land Purchase Acts, at the price fixed by or under this Act.

(2) The foregoing sub-section shall not apply to—

(a) any land which has been purchased under the Land Purchase Acts or is on the appointed day the subject of an actual purchase agreement thereunder lodged with the Land Commission before the date of the passing of this Act; or

(b) any land which is not at the date of the passing of this Act substantially agricultural or pastoral or partly agricultural and partly pastoral in character, or any land comprised in a holding the main object of the letting of which was for a residence and which at date of the passing of this Act retained its residential character; or

(c) any parcel of untenanted land which is a demesne, home farm, park, garden, or pleasure ground or any holding usually occupied by a person in connection with such demesne, home farm, park, garden or pleasure ground; or

(d) any parcel of untenanted land which consists of or forms part of land which was purchased under the provisions of the Irish Church Act, 1869, for a sum not exceeding two thousand pounds; or

(e) any holding or parcel of untenanted land which in the opinion of the Land Commission possesses a substantial value or utility whether potential or actual as building ground; or

(f) any land which is vested in or held in trust for the State or any Government Department, or is held by any local or public authority (otherwise than as tenants thereof) for the purposes of their powers and duties as such, or is held by any corporation for the purposes of a railway, tramway, dock, canal, water, gas, electricity or other public undertaking; or

(g) any “glebe” as defined by the Act of 38th and 39th Victoria, Chapter 42, which now is or hereafter shall be held or occupied by any “ecclesiastical persons” as by the same Act defined.

(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing sub-sections, where the Land Commission before the appointed day declare in the prescribed manner that any land wherever situated, hereinbefore excluded from the operation of this section (other than land which comes within the description in clause (f) of sub-section (2) of this section), is required for the purpose of relieving congestion, then such land shall vest in the Land Commission pursuant to this section.

(4) Where the Land Commission declare that any land coming within clause (a) of sub-section (2) of this section is required for the purpose of relieving congestion the following provisions shall have effect:—

(a) if the land so declared forms portion of the holding the proprietor or tenant of the holding may within the prescribed time and in the prescribed manner require that the entire holding be so declared and the Land Commission shall in that event either so declare the entire holding or withdraw from the proposed acquisition of the said portion.

(b) if within the prescribed time and in the prescribed manner the proprietor or tenant of the declared land so requires them to do the Land Commission shall as soon as practicable provide the said proprietor or tenant with a new holding which in the opinion of the Land Commission other than the Judicial Commissioner (subject to the right of appeal to the Judicial Commissioner, whose decision shall be final) shall be equally suitable for the said proprietor or tenant and of not less value than the declared land. The provisions contained in this Act for transferring burdens and rights on the exchange of holdings by agreement shall extend to any exchange of lands effected under this sub-section.

(5) The Land Commission shall not without the consent of the owner acquire land from him under the powers conferred on them by sub-section (3) of this section so long as there is other unacquired land in the same locality suitable for relieving congestion which does not come within the exceptions mentioned in sub-section (2) of this section and which the Land Commission can acquire without exercising the special powers given by the said sub-section.

(6) For the purposes of this section the expression “home farm” means a farm used for the convenience or advantage of the owner's residence and in connection therewith, and not merely as an ordinary farm for the purposes of profit.

(7) Nothing in this Act shall render it obligatory for the Land Commission to acquire untenanted land which is intermingled with woodland, or the acquisition of which would, in the opinion of the Land Commission, be detrimental to the preservation of woodland and to the interests of forestry, and where any lands vested in the Land Commission under this Act are wholly or practically surrounded by lands under timber, or intermixed with woods, the property of the owner of the lands so vested, it shall be optional to the owner to require the Land Commission to purchase such timber, lands or woods.

(8) Any person aggrieved by a decision of the Judicial Commissioner on any question of law arising under this section may appeal from such decision to the Court of Appeal, but there shall be no appeal from any decision of the Judicial Commissioner on any question of price.

25. —(1) As respects tenanted land the price of each holding shall be a capital sum, hereinafter called “the standard price,” of such amount that interest thereon at the rate of 4¾ per cent. per annum will be equal to the standard purchase annuity for the holding as ascertained in accordance with the first schedule to this Act together with a contribution by the State to the price calculated at 10 per cent. on, and added to, the standard price.

(2) As regards untenanted land the price shall, in default of agreement, be such an amount as may be fixed by the Land Commission (other than the Judicial Commissioner), or by the Judicial Commissioner on appeal from the Land Commission, and in fixing such sum regard shall be had to the fair value of the land to the Land Commission and the owner respectively.

26. —(1) Where the whole or part of a holding of tenanted land, which is vested in the Land Commission by virtue of this Act, is sublet, otherwise than for the purpose of temporary depasturage, agistment or conacre, or for temporary convenience or to meet a temporary necessity, then for the purposes of the provisions of this Act, as to the standard price and as to resales by the Land Commission, the following provisions shall have effect:—

(a) if the entire of the holding is in the occupation of a subtenant, the rent payable by the sub-tenant shall be taken to be the rent payable in respect of the holding, and the sub-tenant shall be taken to be the tenant;

(b) if the entire of the holding is in the occupation of two or more sub-tenants, the portion in the occupation of each sub-tenant shall be treated as a separate holding held at the rent payable in respect of the sub-tenancy and the sub-tenant shall be treated as the tenant thereof;

(c) if portion of the holding is in the occupation of the tenant and the remainder is in the occupation of one or more sub-tenants, the portion in the occupation of the tenant shall be treated as a separate holding held at an apportioned part of the rent payable in respect of the entire holding, the apportionment being made according to rateable value, or (if that portion is not separately rated) according as may be determined by the Land Commission (other than the Judicial Commissioner) and the tenant shall be treated as tenant thereof, and so much of the remainder of the holding as is in the occupation of any sub-tenant shall be treated as a separate holding held at the rent payable in respect of the sub-tenancy, and the sub-tenant shall be treated as the tenant thereof;

(d) where portion of a holding is sublet and that portion is of such character that it ought not in the opinion of the Land Commission to be treated as a separate holding for the purposes aforesaid, the Land Commission may treat the holding as if the portion was not sublet or in the occupation of the sub-tenant.

(2) For the purposes of this section, sub-section (2) of section fifteen of the Irish Land Act, 1903, shall apply with the substitution of “the Judicial Commissioner” for “the Land Commission” and the substitution of “the Vendor” for “the owner of the Estate.”

27. —Where land is vested in the Land Commission by virtue of this Act, the dividends on the Land Bonds representing the purchase money shall, pending distribution thereof, be paid to the Land Commission, and the Land Commission shall pay interest on so much of the purchase money as is for the time being undistributed at the rate of 4½ per cent. per annum to the vendor, or such other person or persons as shall appear to the Land Commission to be entitled thereto.

28. —(1) The tenant of every holding of tenanted land vested in the Land Commission by virtue of this Act, and to which this section applies, shall be deemed on the appointed day to have entered into a subsequent purchase agreement for the purchase the holding from the Land Commission at the standard price.

(2) There shall be payable by the tenant to the Land Commission an annual sum, equivalent to the standard purchase annuity for the holding, and the additional annuity (if any) in respect of compounded arrears of rent added to the purchase money, from the appointed day until the gale day next after the holding is vested in the tenant. The Land Commission shall have for the recovery of such annual sum the same remedies as they have for the recovery of unpaid instalments of purchase annuity.

(3) There shall be payable by the tenant to the Land Commission on the gale day on which the first instalment of the said annual sum shall become payable by him an additional sum, equivalent to a proportion of the said annual sum in respect of the period between the said gale day and the day on which the next dividends are payable on Land Bonds issued under this Act. The Land Commission shall have for the recovery of such additional sum the same remedies as they have for the recovery of unpaid instalments of purchase annuity.

(4) Every holding to which this section applies shall be vested in the tenant by the Land Commission by vesting order or otherwise.

(5) All payments made by the tenant after the appointed day on foot of the annual sum payable by him to the Land Commission under this section shall, from and after the vesting of the holding in him, be treated for all purposes as if they had been payments in respect of purchase annuity.

(6) This section shall not apply to—

(a) any holding in respect of which the standard price exceeds three thousand pounds; or

(b) any holding in the beneficial occupation of a tenant who is on the appointed day the proprietor of lands for the purchase of which advances have been made under any of the Land Purchase Acts, unless redeemed, if the total amount resulting from the addition to the standard price of the amount obtained by capitalising at the rate of four and three-quarters per cent. the original annuities payable on such advances, exceeds £3,000; or

(c) any holding as respects which the Land Commission declare that it is not in the public interest that the holding shall be resold to the tenant as aforesaid, whether on the ground that the improvement of the holding is essential and practicable, or otherwise; or

(d) any holding which in the opinion of the Land Commission ought to be retained for improvement or enlargement, or for utilisation in connection with the relief of congestion;

all which holdings are in this Act referred to as retained holdings.

29. —In the case of every holding retained by the Land Commission—

(1) The Land Commission shall have, and may exercise all or any of the powers exercisable by them as respects holdings on Estates vested in them, including powers of resumption of the whole or part of the holding, whether the holding is or is not part of an Estate or subject to a judicial rent; and in exercising the powers aforesaid shall have regard to the necessity of relieving congestion, the desirability of increasing the food supply of the country, and the manner in which the holdings have been used.

(2) When the Land Commission resume part of a holding they may apportion the rent which was payable in respect of the holding at the date of the passing of this Act between the part resumed and the remainder of the holding as the justice of the case may require.

(3) On any application by the Land Commission for or in connection with the resumption of a holding, the powers of the Court under section five of the Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1881, shall be exercised exclusively by the Judicial Commissioner whose decision shall be final.

The compensation payable to the tenant shall be fixed on the basis on which resumption prices have heretofore been fixed under the said section and in fixing the price the Judicial Commissioner may have regard to payments made by the tenant to the Land Commission under this Act.

The compensation payable to the tenant shall be paid in 4½ per cent. Land Bonds, equal in nominal amount thereto, and all claims attaching to the compensation shall be paid and discharged as if they were claims attaching to purchase money paid by means of 4½ per cent. Land Bonds under this Act.

(4) There shall be payable to the Land Commission by the tenant of every retained holding an annual sum equivalent to the standard purchase annuity for the holding and the additional annuity (if any) in respect of compounded arrears of rent added to the purchase money from the appointed day—

(a) if the entire holding is re-sold to the tenant, until the gale day next after the vesting of the holding;

(b) if the holding is resumed by the Land Commission, until the date of such resumption;

(c) if part of the holding is re-sold to the tenant or is resumed by the Land Commission, until such date as the Land Commission shall appoint but subject to such apportionment or variation before that date as the Land Commission shall direct.

The Land Commission shall have for the recovery of such annual sum the same remedies as they have for the recovery of unpaid instalments of purchase annuity.

(5) There shall be payable by the tenant to the Land Commission on the gale day on which the first instalment of the said annual sum shall become payable by him an additional sum, equivalent to a proportion of the said annual sum, in respect of the period between the said gale day and the day on which the next dividends are payable on Land Bonds issued under this Act. The Land Commission shall have for the recovery of such additional sum the same remedies as they have for the recovery of unpaid instalments of purchase annuity.

(6) If the entire holding is re-sold to the tenant, all payments made by the tenant after the appointed day on foot of the annual sum payable by him to the Land Commission under this section shall from and after the vesting of the holding in him be treated for all purposes as if they had been payments in respect of purchase annuity.

In every other case such proportion of the payments aforesaid as the Land Commission shall direct shall from and after the vesting of any part of the holding in a purchaser be treated for all purposes as if they had been payments in respect of purchase annuity charged on that part of the holding.

30. —For the purpose of any resale the limit on the amount that may be advanced shall in every case be £3,000, provided that this limitation may be exceeded to such extent as appears to the Land Commission to be proper in any case where in the opinion of the Land Commission it is expedient that the sum to be advanced should be more than £3,000.

31. —(1) Advances may be made to the following persons or bodies for the purchase by them from the Land Commission of parcels of land:—

(a) A person being the tenant or proprietor of a holding which in the opinion of the Land Commission is not an economic holding.

(b) A person who has entered into an agreement with the Land Commission for the exchange of his holding.

(c) A person who within 25 years before the passing of the Irish Land Act, 1903, was the tenant of a holding to which the Land Purchase Acts apply, and who was evicted from that holding in consequence of proceedings taken by or on behalf of his landlord, or in case such person is dead, a person nominated by the Land Commission as his personal representative.

(d) A person being a labourer who by reason of the sale of any lands under the provisions of the Land Purchase Acts has been deprived of his employment on the said lands.

(e) Trustees for the purposes mentioned in section 4 of the Irish Land Act, 1903, as extended by this Act.

(f) Any other person or body to whom in the opinion of the Land Commission an advance ought to be made.

In selecting persons under this paragraph the Land Commission may have regard to the cases of persons who, or whose predecessors have been evicted from their holdings in consequence of proceedings taken by or on behalf of the landlord, and who are not included in paragraph (c) above.

(2) The Land Commission in deciding as to the suitability of applicants under this section shall be satisfied as to their competence to work the land, and their intention to do so and not to sell, let or assign it. The agreement between the applicant and the Land Commission for the purchase of a parcel of land shall in all cases provide that the parcel shall not be vested in the applicant unless the Land Commission are satisfied that it is being worked by him in accordance with proper methods of husbandry and that if the Land Commission are not so satisfied they may demand and recover possession of the parcel freed and discharged from any claim by the applicant.

(3) The Land Purchase Acts shall, subject to the provisions of this section, apply to the sale of a parcel of land in pursuance of this section in like manner as if the same was a holding and the purchaser was the tenant thereof at the time of his making the purchase, and the expression “holding” in those Acts shall include a parcel of land in respect of the purchase of which an advance has been made in pursuance of this section.

(4) Section 17 of the Irish Land Act, 1909, shall cease to have effect save as regards the sale of any parcels of land in respect of which purchase agreements have been entered into before the passing of this Act, and, save as aforesaid, any reference in any enactment to that section shall be construed as a reference to this section.

32. —Where the owner of a parcel of untenanted land which is vested in the Land Commission by virtue of this Act uses and cultivates the same as an ordinary farm in accordance with proper methods of husbandry; then

(a) if the price of the parcel together with the value of any other lands in the possession of the owner as ascertained by the Land Commission does not exceed £3,000 the Land Commission shall if the owner so requires and unless in their opinion it ought to be retained for improvement or enlargement or for utilization in connection with the relief of congestion, resell the parcel to the owner at the said price, if before the appointed day he has undertaken to purchase it at that price; and

(b) if the price of the parcel together with the value of any other lands in the possession of the owner as ascertained by the Land Commission exceeds £3,000 the Land Commission may resell to the owner either the whole thereof at the said price or any part thereof at a price bearing the same proportion to the said price which the value of the part bears to the value of the whole of the parcel as ascertained by the Land Commission, but the advance shall not in any case exceed £3,000, unless in the opinion of the Land Commission it is expedient that this amount should be exceeded, the difference (if any) between the amount to be advanced and the price being paid in cash by the owner to the Land Commission.

33. —Where in the case of a holding retained by the Land Commission, the Land Commission do not exercise their powers of resumption or if they exercise their powers of resumption in respect of only part of the holding, then if the tenant has used and cultivated the holding as an ordinary farmer in accordance with proper methods of husbandry, the Land Commission shall resell to the tenant (if he so require) the holding at the standard price, or any part thereof not resumed at the proportionate part of such price applicable thereto as determined by the Land Commission, and shall make an advance for the purpose of the purchase not exceeding such sum as with the amount obtained by capitalising at the rate of four and three-quarters per cent. the original annuities payable on the advances, if any, unless redeemed, which may already have been made under any of the Land Purchase Acts for the purchase of lands of which the tenant is the proprietor at the date of such resale, does not exceed £3,000, unless in the opinion of the Land Commission it is expedient that this amount should be exceeded, the difference (if any) between the amount to be advanced and the price being paid in cash by the tenant to the Land Commission.

34. —(1) If the tenant of any holding retained by the Land Commission refuses to enter into an agreement for the purchase of the holding, or of a new holding consisting of part of the original holding, or of a new holding consisting of the whole or part of the original holding and other land, at the price which the Land Commission are prepared to advance, the Land Commission (other than the Judicial Commissioner) may after serving the prescribed notice upon the tenant and considering any objections made by him make an order declaring the tenant to be the purchaser of the original or new holding, as the case may be, for such price and upon such terms and conditions as may be specified in the order, and the tenant shall thereupon be deemed to have entered into a purchase agreement on the prescribed date for the purchase of the original or new holding, as the case may be, for the price and upon the terms and conditions so specified, and the purchase shall be completed accordingly.

(2) An appeal shall lie from any order under this section to the Judicial Commissioner, who shall have power to reverse or confirm the order, or to make any order which might have been made by the Land Commission.

35. —Where the Land Commission have acquired any land from an owner under this Act they may purchase from him any demesne or other land in his occupation adjacent thereto at a price which in their opinion represents the selling value thereof, and in such case may resell the whole or any portion of that land to him as if he were a person to whom advances might be made for the purchase of a parcel of land under this Act.

The provisions of sub-sections (4) and (5) of section 3 of the Irish Land Act, 1903, shall apply to any resale under this section.

36. —The Land Commission may purchase any untenanted land which they consider necessary for the purpose of providing parcels of land for any of the persons or bodies to whom advances may be made under the provisions of this Act, for such price, payable in 4½ per cent. Land Bonds of equal nominal value, as shall be agreed upon between the owner of such untenanted land and the Land Commission, and such land when vested in the Land Commission shall be subject to all the provisions of this Act relating to the providing of parcels of land for the persons or bodies aforesaid.

37. —The powers of the Land Commission under this Act to acquire any untenanted land shall include power so to acquire any bog for the purpose of providing turbary for the occupiers of land in the neighbourhood thereof, whether the said bog is or is not subject to any right of turbary of other persons than the owner, and whether or not an advance under the Land Purchase Acts has been made for the purchase of lands including such bog, and if made, whether redeemed or not. In exercising the powers given by this section the Land Commission shall have due regard to the reasonable requirements of the owner.

38. —Where a parcel of untenanted land situate in a non-congested districts county is held under a fee farm grant, lease renewable for ever for lives or years or lease for a term of years of which 60 or more are unexpired at the date of the passing of this Act and the proprietor of the parcel applies in the prescribed manner to the Land Commission for an advance for the purpose of redeeming the rent created or reserved by the fee farm grant or lease or such proportionate part thereof as may be payable in respect of the parcel, the Judicial Commissioner shall, after hearing all persons concerned, apportion the rent if such apportionment shall be necessary and any superior rent and order the redemption of the rent or the apportioned part thereof as the case may be and all interests superior thereto and fix the redemption price thereof. The redemption price so fixed together with such costs as may be allowed by the Judicial Commissioner shall be advanced and paid by means of 4½ per cent. Land Bonds and distributed by the Judicial Commissioner as if the redemption price of the rent were purchase money of land vested in the Land Commission under this Act and the amount advanced shall be repayable by the proprietor of the parcel by means of an annuity (charged on the parcel and recoverable in like manner as a purchase annuity) calculated at the rate of 4¾ per cent. on the amount of the advance and where the parcel is held under a lease the proprietor shall acquire and have an estate in fee simple therein instead of the term created by the lease.

39. —Where a holding has at any time been vested in a purchaser under the Land Purchase Acts subject to a superior interest or charge the Judicial Commissioner shall on the application of the proprietor after hearing all persons concerned order the redemption of the said interest or charge and all interests superior to them and fix the redemption price thereof. The redemption price so fixed together with such costs as may be allowed by the Judicial Commissioner shall notwithstanding the provisions contained in sub-section (4) of section 9 of the Purchase of Land. (Ireland) Act, 1891, be advanced and paid by means of 4½ per cent. Land Bonds and distributed by the Judicial Commissioner as if the redemption price were the purchase money of land vested in the Land Commission under this Act. The advance shall be repayable by the proprietor of the holding by means of an annuity calculated at the rate of 4¾ per cent. on the amount of the advance and the said annuity shall be recoverable in like manner as a purchase annuity.

40. —(1) It shall be the duty of every person who is entitled to the rents and profits of any land to which this Act applies or who pays any rent in respect of such lands or who receives or pays such rents and profits, or rent on behalf of any other person, to furnish in writing to the Land Commission upon application in that behalf made to him by the Land Commission such particulars with respect to the land in such form and verified in such manner within such time as the Land Commission may by a general or special notice require and prescribe.

(2) The Land Commission shall from time to time publish provisional lists of the lands which will, if not excluded in consequence of a valid objection, become vested in the Land Commission on the appointed day, together with notice of the manner in which and the time within which the objections may be made to the list by reason of the inclusion or non-inclusion therein of any land.

(3) The Land Commission (other than the Judicial Commissioner) shall consider all objections duly made, and there shall be a right of appeal to the Judicial Commissioner whose decision shall be final save where in this Act otherwise provided.

(4) The Land Commission shall publish a final list of lands with respect to which no objection has been lodged, and from time to time as and when objections to other lands have been finally settled a final list of those lands, and a final list when so published, whether after or before the appointed day, shall be conclusive evidence that the lands comprised therein became or will become vested by virtue of this Act on the appointed day.

(5) If any person wilfully neglects or refuses to give any information which he is required to furnish under this section within the prescribed time, or knowingly furnishes any information which is false in any particular, he shall on summary conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or to imprisonment with or without hard labour for a term not exceeding three months.

(6) Any Inspector or other person appointed by the Land Commission may after notice sent by post to the person who appears to be owner or occupier of any land, enter upon the land and make all such enquiries as may be necessary to enable the Land Commission to ascertain the extent and character thereof, and such other particulars in relation thereto as they may require for the purposes of this Act.

(7) Where duties under this section are performed on behalf of the owner of any land by any land agent, solicitor, or land clerk nominated with the approval of the Land Commission, he may be paid such remuneration as may be directed by the Land Commission with the assent of the Minister for Finance, and such remuneration shall be paid as part of the expenses of the Land Commission.

(8) Where in the case of the sale of any land an agent has been employed in the management of the estate comprising the land sold, such sum as may be sanctioned by the Land Commission may with the consent of the owner of the land be paid to the agent in Land Bonds out of the purchase money on his ceasing to act as such agent.

(9) Any notice or list required to be published under this section shall be published in the Iris Oifigiúil and in such manner as the Land Commission consider best adapted for securing publicity.

41. —(1) Where any person—

(a) fails to furnish any information, map, particular, or document which under this Act it is his duty to furnish, or, in the opinion of the Judicial Commissioner, fails to carry out such duty in a satisfactory manner; or

(b) wilfully fails or refuses to make title or produce evidence of title; or

(c) fails to prosecute any proceedings with due diligence and effect;

it shall be lawful for the Judicial Commissioner to appoint a solicitor, land agent, engineer, or surveyor to act in the matter and to carry out the instructions of the Land Commission, and such solicitor, land agent, engineer, or surveyor shall have all such powers as he would have had had he been duly employed by such person as aforesaid.

(2) Such costs and remuneration as may be approved by the Judicial Commissioner shall be paid by the Land Commission to any such solicitor, land agent, engineer, or surveyor so employed, and shall be recoverable by the Land Commission from the person in consequence of whose default such payment became necessary.

(3) Where a solicitor, land agent, engineer, or surveyor appointed by the owner does not in the opinion of the Judicial Commissioner prosecute any proceedings with due diligence and effect, the Judicial Commissioner shall have power to remove such solicitor, land agent, engineer, or surveyor and appoint such other person or persons as he may think fit in the place of the person so removed, and the person or persons so appointed shall have and exercise the same authorities and powers and shall be entitled to the same costs and remuneration as if he had been appointed by the owner.

42. —The powers of the Land Commission to make regulations with respect to turbary on bogs on holdings shall be extended so as to include power to make regulations with respect to turbary on any bog, whether the owner thereof has or has not an exclusive right of turbary thereon, and so as to include power of defining the area on which the owner may cut turf and to make regulations conferring and defining rights of access to and through the bog over any land for the purposes of turbary.

43. —The powers of the Land Commission to expend money on the improvement of land sold or agreed to be sold under the Land Purchase Acts shall include power to provide, where necessary, rights of way to and from such land, and for this purpose they may, in the prescribed manner, make orders conferring and defining such rights of way and fixing the compensation (if any) to be paid to the owner of the land over which such rights of way have been conferred or defined.

44. —(1) Where it appears to the Judicial Commissioner that prior to the appointed day a landlord, or in the case of untenanted land an owner, has been liable for the cleansing or maintenance in whole or in part of any watercourse drain embankment or other work, either alone or in conjunction with other persons and whether under the terms of a contract of tenancy or otherwise, he may direct that out of the Land Bonds representing the purchase money there shall be transferred and applied in manner hereinafter provided Land Bonds sufficient to yield such income as in his opinion will be required for the future cleansing and maintenance of such watercourse drain embankment or other work, in accordance with the liability as ascertained by him of the former landlord or owner.

(2) Land Bonds so ordered to be transferred and applied shall be transferred to the Public Trustee, and the income shall be applied in or towards the cleansing or maintenance of the watercourse, drain, embankment, or other work in accordance with a scheme to be framed by the Land Commission which may if thought fit authorise the sale of the said Land Bonds or the investments for the time being representing the same or any part thereof and the application of the principal moneys arising from such sale in or towards the reconstruction of such work.

(3) The Land Commission shall have power to determine all questions in connection with watercourses, drains and embankments, and the cleansing and maintenance thereof, and to define or prescribe the rights, obligations, and liabilities in relation thereto of all parties.

(4) The Land Commission shall have power to enter on any lands for the purposes of the cleansing, repair, maintenance or restoration of watercourses, drains, embankments, or other works, and to take such soil and materials therefrom, and to do such things thereon as may be necessary for the said purposes.

(5) The Land Commission shall have power in their discretion to expend in or towards the reconstruction of any watercourse, drain, embankment or other work such sum as at their request the Minister for Finance shall approve of and advance out of moneys to be provided by the Oireachtas, and so much of such sum as the Land Commission certify in that behalf shall be repayable by means of an annuity or annuities charged upon any land, which the Land Commission certify to have been benefited by such expenditure, as if the said sum had been advanced for the purchase of the land in pursuance of a subsequent purchase agreement, the said annuity to be consolidated, so far as circumstances permit, with any existing Land Purchase annuity to which the land is subject.

45. —(1) On the vesting of any lands in the Land Commission under this Act, all sporting rights as defined in sub-section (2) of section 13 of the Irish Land Act, 1903, including such sporting rights as may be superior interests, and all fisheries appurtenant to the said lands shall vest in the Land Commission subject to any lease then existing as if the owner or owners had agreed to sell them at such price as in the absence of agreement shall be fixed by the Land Commission (other than the Judicial Commissioner) or by the Judicial Commissioner on appeal from the Land Commission, regard being had in fixing such price to the fair value of the sporting rights and fisheries to the Land Commission and to the owner or owners respectively:

Provided that in the case of tenanted land the sporting rights other than fishing rights and fisheries shall be deemed to be of no appreciable value.

(2) Where the tenant of a holding of tenanted land is deemed to have entered into a subsequent purchase agreement for the purchase of the holding from the Land Commission under this Act the sporting rights on and over the holding other than fishing rights and fisheries shall be vested in him with the holding.

(3) The purchase money of all such sporting rights and fisheries shall be paid in four and a half per cent. Land Bonds.

(4) The Land Commission shall have power to make regulations conferring and defining rights of passage through and over any lands to any river or lake and along the banks or shores of any such river or lake which in the opinion of the Land Commission may be necessary or expedient for the proper user and enjoyment of any fishing rights vested in the Land Commission under this Act.

(5) On the vesting of any land under this Act the exclusive right of mining and taking minerals and digging and searching for minerals on or under that land, including such mineral rights as may be superior interests, shall vest in Saorstát Eireann:

Provided that this sub-section shall not apply—

(a) to any mine or quarry which is being worked or developed by the owner or his lessee on the appointed day;

(b) to any stone, gravel, sand or clay:

Provided also that where any such rights vested in Saorstát Eireann under this sub-section are at any time hereafter let leased or sold the person who would have been entitled thereto if they had not so vested shall be entitled to receive such share of any rent purchase money or any other net profit received in respect of the same as shall be hereafter determined by the Oireachtas.

46. —(1) For the purpose of facilitating the improvement of holdings, the registered owner of any holding, whether registered as full owner or as limited owner, shall have power to enter into an agreement with the Land Commission under this section for an exchange of holdings, and the agreement may be carried into effect in manner provided by this section.

(2) The registered owner shall transfer the holding to the Land Commission, and the Land Commission shall in exchange provide for him a new holding either by selling to him a parcel of land under the Land Purchase Acts, or by transferring to him a holding purchased under those Acts.

(3) The transfer to the Land Commission of the original holding shall as from the date of its registration operate to vest in the Land Commission an estate in fee simple in the holding, subject to such of the burdens enumerated in section forty-seven of the Local Registration of Title (Ireland) Act, 1891 (other than succession duty and estate duty), as affect the holding on that date, and subject to any burden created under any Act relating to the Board of Works, but free from all other burdens and rights, whether registered or not registered, which then affect the holding (including succession duty and estate duty and any burdens the ascertainment of which was dispensed with on first registration), and all such burdens and rights shall, as from that date, be transferred to the new holding without any conveyance or order.

(4) Where the new holding is provided by transferring to the registered owner a holding purchased under the Land Purchase Acts, the holding shall be transferred to him subject to such of the burdens enumerated in section forty-seven of the Local Registration of Title (Ireland) Act, 1891 (other than succession duty and estate duty), as affect the holding on the date of the transfer, and to the burdens and rights transferred from the original holding, but free from all other burdens and rights whether registered or not registered (including succession duty and estate duty and any burdens the ascertainment of which was dispensed with on first registration of the new holding).

(5) The registration of the Land Commission as owners of the original holding, and of the registered owner as owner of the new holding, shall be effected on the same date, and it shall be the duty of the Land Commission to procure the registrations and to take all steps that may be necessary for that purpose.

(6) The provisions of this section with respect to the registered owner of a holding shall in the following cases extend to the following persons respectively (that is to say):—

(a) if Part IV. of the Local Registration of Title (Ireland) Act, 1891, applies to the holding and the registered owner (being registered as full owner) is dead, to his legal personal representative;

(b) if the registered owner is an infant, lunatic or person of unsound mind, to any person by whom he may be represented for any of the purposes of the Local Registration of Title (Ireland) Act, 1891; and

(c) if a representative of a registered owner is appointed by the County Court for the purposes of this section, to that representative.

(7) The County Court shall have power to appoint a representative of the registered owner of a holding for the purposes of this section when it appears to the Court, on the application of the Land Commission or any person interested, that the registered owner is a person not resident in Saorstát Eireann or a person as to whom it is not known whether he is alive or dead, and that it is to the advantage of the persons interested in the holding that it should be exchanged for a new holding under this section. Application to the County Court and the practice and procedure thereon may be regulated by rules of Court.

47. —The definition of ancient monuments contained in section 14 of the Irish Land Act, 1903, shall include any monument which in the opinion of the Land Commission is of archaeological interest and shall where the Land Commission so declare also include the site of the monument and such portion of the land adjoining it as is necessary to prevent injury and afford access.