asked the Minister for Lands if he will state whether the Ashley estate, Ballinful, Cliffoney, County Sligo, has been acquired by the Land Commission, and, if not, the stage which negotiations for its acquisition have reached; whether it is intended to have these lands made available for the relief of congestion in the area, and, if so, when allotment will be made; and, further, whether he will ask the Land Commission to deal with this property as efficiently and as quickly as conditions will permit.

This Ashley estate, comprising 860 acres, was allotted in 1927 in undivided shares. I presume what the Deputy has in mind is the proposal to subdivide portion of the commonage amongst the allottees. This matter is under consideration and there will be no delay in dealing with it.

asked the Minister for Lands if it is the intention of the Land Commission to acquire the Erasmus Smith estate at Glencar, County Sligo.

The Land Commission have decided not to acquire these lands.

Is the Minister aware that a scheme was partially prepared last year for the acquisition and subdividing of this estate? That is my information from one of the inspectors in Sligo and I should like to know what has transpired with regard to that scheme.

I can assure the Deputy that there was no scheme for dividing these lands, because the lands consisted altogether of mountain grazing and many of the local tenants have grazing rights on them. The Land Commission did investigate the possibility of acquiring some of these lands and decided not to do so.