Leasing land held by the Commission
Walsh asks whether Commission land will be made available for leasing. The Minister says no further leasing is planned and the land will instead be permanently allocated as quickly as possible, citing the difficulty of setting fair leasing criteria and the Commission’s impending closure.
asked the Minister for Agriculture if he has any plans to make available for leasing the land at present in the possession of the Land Commission; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Comment on this
The Land Commission have no plans for the leasing of any more of the land in their possession. The intention now is to dispose of all lands on a permanent basis as quickly as possible.
Comment on this
The Minister promoted the idea of land leasing last year. Now that there are several thousand acres of land with the Land Commission he should take the opportunity of putting his policies into practice.
Comment on this
This is something to which I have given a lot of consideration. Because most of this land was acquired initially for the relief of congestion it is quite difficult to arrive at a criterion which could include long term leasing under these conditions. Many of the local farmers surrounding this estate believe that they have a greater avenue than anybody from outside. Because the Land Commission are being wound up, it was felt that it was better to allocate the land under the old system.
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