Land Act, 1923

Land Act, 1923 Skip to content Disclaimer Feedback Helpdesk Gaeilge Léim go dtí an t-ábhar Séanadh Aiseolas Deasc chabhrach English Gaeilge English Produced by the Office of the Attorney General Táirgthe ag Oifig an Ard-Aighne Home Legislation Acts of the Oireachtas Statutory Instruments Pre-1922 Legislation Constitution External Resources Bills (Houses of the Oireachtas) Iris Oifigiúil / Official Gazette Revised Acts (LRC) Classified List of Legislation (LRC) Translations (acts.ie) Translations (Houses of the Oireachtas) Government Publications for Sale EU Law (EUR-Lex) FAQ Disclaimer Feedback Helpdesk Search Baile Reachtaíocht Achtanna an Oireachtais Ionstraimí Reachtúla Reachtaíocht Réamh-1922 Bunreacht Acmhainní Seachtracha Billí (Tithe an Oireachtais) Iris Oifigiúil Achtanna Athbhreithnithe (CAD) (An Coimisiún um Athchóiriú an Dlí) Liosta Rangaithe Reachtaíochta Aistriúcháin (achtanna.ie) Aistriúcháin (Tithe an Oireachtais) Foilseacháin Rialtais ar Díol Dlí AE (EUR-Lex) CCanna (Ceisteanna Coitianta) Séanadh Aiseolas Deasc chabhrach Cuardach TitleTeideal Year(s) or rangeBliain nó blianta nó raon TypeCineál All Legislation Acts Statutory Instruments Advanced SearchCuardach Casta HomeBaile ActsAchtanna 1923 Land Act, 1923 Land Act, 1923 Permanent Page URL View by SectionAmharc de réir Ailt View Full ActAmharc ar an Acht Iomlán Bill History Stair Bille Commencement, Amendments, SIs made under the Act Tosach Feidhme, Leasuithe, IRí arna ndéanamh faoin Acht Print Full ActPriontáil an tAcht Iomlán Number 42. LAND ACT, 1923. ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS PART I FINANCE Section 1. Power to create 4½ per cent Land Bonds. 2. Advances to be made in 4½ per cent. Land Bonds. 3. Superior interests and other charges to be paid in 4½ per cent. Land Bonds. 4. Prohibition of penal interest on mortgages pending sale. 5. Costs Fund. 6. Abolition of percentage. 7. Recovery by the State of moneys paid through mistake. 8. Payment in Bonds. 9. Repayment of advances. 10. Establishment of Land Bond Fund. 11. Payments by the Land Commission. 12. Establishment of Purchase Annuities Fun. 13. Abolition of county limit on advances. 14. Redemption of Purchase Annuities in certain cases. 15. Trinity College Dublin. 16. Ireland Development Grant. 17. Power to make Rules. PART II LAND PURCHASE 18. Prohibition of agreements otherwise than under this Act. 19. Arrears of rent. 20. Payment in lieu of rent. 21. Recovery of compounded arrears of rent and payment in lieu of rent by Land Commission. 22. The furnishing of particulars of rentals, etc. 23. Rent and arrears of rent of sub-tenancies. 24. Vesting of lands in Land Commission on appointed day. 25. The price of land. 26. Sub-tenancies. 27. Dividends and interest on purchase money pending distribution. 28. Subsequent purchase agreements by tenants. 29. Power of Land Commission in regard to retained holdings. 30. Limitation on advances. 31. Advances for purchase of parcels of land. 32. Resale of untenanted land to owners. 33. Resale to tenants of retained holdings. 34. Vesting of rearranged holdings. 35. Resale of demesnes. 36. Power to Land commission to purchase in untenanted land. 37. Power to acquire any bog. 38. Redemption of fee farm or other rents. 39. Redemption of superior interests on purchased holdings. 40. Ascertainment of lands to be vested in Land Commission. 41. Powers of Land Commission over solicitors and agents. 42. Power to make regulations as to turbary. 43. Power to provide rights of way. 44. Preservation of embankments, etc. 45. Sporting rights, fisheries and minerals. 46. Facilities for exchange of holdings. 47. Ancient Monuments. PART III THE NATIONAL LAND BANK, LIMITED 48. Application of this Part of the Act. 49. Vesting in Land Commission on appointed day. 50. Information required from the Bank by Land Commission. 51. Advertisement by Land Commission of lands acquired. 52. Ascertainment of purchase price. 53. Provisions as to deposits by a Society or body of trustees. 54. Conditions of resale to the Societies. 55. Vesting of the lands in the Societies. 56. Non-application of Costs Fund. PART IV LOCAL REGISTRATION OF TITLE 57. Rules as to registration on exchange of holdings. 58. Power to register lands with a qualified or possessory title. 59. Power to register with a qualified or possessory title land acquired under Labourers Acts. 60. Transmission on death of land resold to an owner. 61. Registration of a nominated proprietor. 62. Power of Land commission to resell before registration of their title. 63. Death of a purchaser before vesting or registration. PART V GENERAL 64. Prohibition of fixing of judicial rents. 65. Prohibition of sub-division and letting. 66. Consolidation of holdings. 67. Power to nominate a representative of a purchaser. 68. Persons under disability. 69. Advances to trustees for the purpose of tillage. 70. Appointed day. 71. Certain provisions of previous enactments to cease to have effect. 72. Powers of the Board of Works to apportion annuities. 73. Definitions. 74. Power to Executive Council to adapt enactments. 75. Removal of difficulties. 76. Power to make rules. 77. Provision of moneys for carrying this Act into effect. 78. Repeals. 79. Short Title and Construction. FIRST SCHEDULE. Standard purchase annuity. SECOND SCHEDULE. Repeals. Number 42. LAND ACT, 1923. AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAW RELATING TO THE OCCUPATION AND OWNERSHIP OF LAND AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES RELATING THERETO. [9th August. 1923.] BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS OF SAORSTAT EIREANN AS FOLLOWS:— PART I.—FINANCE. Power to create 4½ per cent. Land Bonds. 1.—(1) In order to provide for the payment of the sums which under this Act are to be paid in Bonds the Minister for Finance shall have power to create and issue, when and as required for the purpose, Bonds to be called 4½ per cent. Land Bonds, of such denominations (not in any case less than one pound) as the Minister may determine. (2) The Bonds shall bear interest at the rate of four and one-half per cent. per annum on the nominal amount thereof payable in equal half-yearly instalments at such times in each year as may be fixed by the Regulations under which they are issued. (3) The Bonds shall be redeemable at par together with the payment of all arrears of interest, and the Minister for Finance shall make arrangements for the redemption thereof by means of periodical drawings, and may make regulations for the drawing of such Bonds. Such regulations shall provide for the immediate redemption of Bonds transferred by order of the Judicial Commissioner in satisfaction of Death Duties, or in redemption of land purchase annuities charged on the lands acquired by the Land Commission under this Act: Provided that any Bonds may at any time after the expiration of thirty years from the issue thereof, if not previously redeemed, be redeemed at par at such time and either by drawings or otherwise as the Minister for Finance may direct. (4) The interest on the Land Bonds and the sums required for redemption of Land Bonds in accordance with the foregoing provisions shall be paid out of the Land Bond Fund established under this Act, and if the same shall be insufficient shall be charged upon and paid out of the Central Fund of Saorstát Eireann or the growing produce thereof as a first charge thereon after any charges created before the passing of this Act. Any sums so paid out of the Central Fund shall be treated as a temporary advance to the Land Bond Fund, and shall be made good out of the Guarantee Fund. (5) For the purpose of redemption of the Bonds there shall be set aside in the Land Bond Fund at the close of each half-year the amount of the interest and payments in respect of Sinking Fund payable by the Land Commission, in accordance with the provisions hereinafter contained, together with any sums paid by tenant purchasers in redemption of purchase annuities payable under this Act, and any sums paid in cash by a purchaser on the sale to him by the Land Commission of any land vested in them under this Act, subject to the following deductions:— (a) the amount of the interest on the Bonds so issued, and for the time being outstanding; (b) the amount, if any, required for the payment off of any bonds which under this Act have been transferred by order of the Judicial Commissioner, in satisfaction of death duties or in redemption of land purchase annuities. Advances to be made in 4½ per cent. Land Bonds. 2.—(1) Notwithstanding anything in any other enactment the purchase money to be paid by the Land Commission to vendors in pursuance of subsequent purchase agreements as hereinafter defined shall be paid by means of an issue of 4½ per cent. Land Bonds equal in nominal amount to the Purchase Money and carrying interest as from the date on which the land purchased is vested in the Land Commission. (2) Land Bonds issued in pursuance of this section shall, as between the vendor and the Land Commission, be accepted by the vendor as the equivalent of the corresponding amount of purchase money, and any person having power to sell under the Land Purchase Acts, although he is not an absolute owner, may enter into a subsequent purchase agreement, notwithstanding that the purchase money is to be paid in Bonds, in pursuance of this section, instead of cash. Superior interests and other charges to be paid in 4½ per cent. Land Bonds. 3.—The redemption price of all superior and intervening interests, incumbrances and other claims attaching to purchase money paid by means of 4½ per cent. Land Bonds or payable out of such interests, incumbrances and claims, together with all arrears of and interest on such interests, incumbrances and claims and the vendor's costs of sale and the costs of making title to such interests, incumbrances and claims, so far as the same are payable out of the purchase money, shall be paid and discharged by transferring to the person entitled thereto, out of the Land Bonds representing the purchase money, Land Bonds of equal nominal value, and such payment shall be deemed to be satisfaction to the extent of the nominal amount of the Land Bonds so transferred. In fixing the redemption price of superior interests the Judicial Commissioner shall have regard to the price received by the vendor for the lands out of which such superior interests issue. Prohibition of penal interest on mortgages pending sale. 4.—Where the instrument creating any mortgage, charge or incumbrance payable out of or charged upon the purchase money of lands taken under the Act provides that interest shall be accepted at a reduced rate upon prompt payment, no higher rate shall be due or recoverable in respect of arrears of interest or on account of any default or delay in payment of interest upon such mortgage, charge or incumbrance pending the completion of the sale. Costs Fund. 5.—(1) For the purpose of recouping vendors in whole or in part for the costs of sale including costs of owners of superior and intervening interests, incumbrancers and other claimants against the purchase money advanced under this Act there shall be established a Costs Fund amounting to 2 per cent. on the total purchase moneys advanced under this Act. This Fund shall be raised by the Minister for Finance by the issue of 4½ per cent. Land Bonds as and when required, the interest on the Bonds to be from time to time invested in 4½ per cent. Land Bonds and added to the Costs Fund. (2) There shall be payable to the vendor out of the Costs Fund such sum in 4½ per cent. Land Bonds as the Judicial Commissioner shall certify to be reasonable having regard to the amount of work done in connection with the sale and the manner in which it has been done: Provided that no payment shall be made under this section until all the lands of a vendor to be acquired or vested on the appointed day under this Act shall have been vested, unless and to the extent that the Judicial Commissioner shall direct. Abolition of the percentage. 6.—The provisions of Section 48 of the Irish Land Act, 1903 , shall not apply in respect of any land whether tenanted or untenanted purchased by or becoming vested in the Land Commission under or by virtue of this Act. Recovery by the State of moneys paid through mistake. 7.—Any moneys, bonds, stock or securities paid or distributed by the Land Commission to the wrong person, through a mistake of law or fact, shall be recoverable by the Land Commission as if it were a debt due to the State. Payment in Bonds. 8.—For the purpose of payment in 4½ per cent. Land Bonds in accordance with the provisions of this Act the amount of the purchase money and of every payment to be made thereout shall in all cases be calculated to the nearest pound. Repayment of advances. 9.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act every advance made in pursuance of a subsequent purchase agreement shall be repaid, in the manner and at the times prescribed by the Minister for Finance, by means of a purchase annuity calculated at the rate of 4¾ per cent. on the amount thereof. (2) The purchase annuity shall be paid until the whole of the advance in respect of which it is payable is ascertained in manner prescribed by the Minister for Finance to have been repaid. (3) The provisions of the Provisional Government (Transfer of Functions) Order, 1922, shall not apply to purchase annuities payable in respect of advances made under this Act. (4) The purchase annuity or any part thereof at any time outstanding may be redeemed in whole or in part by the person liable to pay that annuity by payment to the Land Commission in cash of such amount as shall be ascertained in accordance with Rules made by the Minister for Finance. Establishment of Land Bond Fund. 10.—(1) There shall be established a Land Bond Fund under the control of the Minister for Finance out of which shall be paid the interest in respect of all Bonds issued under this Act together with the sums required for redemption of Bonds under this Act. (2) Accounts of the receipts and expenditure of the Land Bond Fund both as regards capital and income shall be kept by the Minister for Finance and those accounts shall be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor-General and the accounts when audited shall be laid before the Oireachtas. (3) For the purposes of this Act the Land Commission shall keep such accounts containing such particulars and entries as the Minister for Finance may direct and shall furnish those accounts to the Minister for Finance as and when required by him, and the said accounts shall be audited in such manner as the Minister for Finance may prescribe. (4) Any balance to the credit of the capital or income account of the Land Bond Fund may be temporarily invested by the Minister for Finance in such manner as he may think fit. Payments by the Land Commission. 11.—(1) Interest at the rate of four and one-half per cent. per annum shall be paid by the Land Commission to the Land Bond Fund on the nominal amount of all Bonds issued under this Act by the Minister for Finance to the Land Commission and not certified by the Minister for Finance to have been repaid. (2) The Land Commission, where land is vested in them under this Act, shall, until the purchase annuities charged on the land cease to be payable, pay to the Land Bond Fund in respect of Sinking Fund five shillings per cent. per annum— (a) in the case of tenanted land on the standard price thereof together with the addition (if any) in respect of compounded arrears of rent added to the purchase money from the appointed day; (b) in the case of untenanted land on the amount of the advances made in respect of such land from the date on which such advances become repayable, and, in so far as such land has not been disposed of within a period of five years from the appointed day, on the amount of the price of such land from the expiration of said period until the lands have been resold; (c) on the nominal amount of all Bonds issued for contribution to price and for the Costs Fund from the date of the issue of such Bonds until the same shall be certified by the Minister for Finance to have been repaid. (3) The Land Commission shall pay to the Land Bond Fund in respect of Sinking Fund five shillings per cent. per annum— (a) on the nominal amount of all Bonds issued for the price of Sporting Rights and Fisheries purchased by them under this Act from the date of the issue of such Bonds until the same shall be certified by the Minister for Finance to have been repaid; (b) on the amount of advances made by them to proprietors of parcels of untenanted land in non-congested districts counties and of parcels purchased under the Land Purchase Acts for the redemption of Fee-farm or other rents, superior interests and charges from the date on which Land Bonds shall be issued in respect of such advances until the advances have been repaid. (4) The Land Commission shall pay to the Land Bond Fund all sums received by them for the redemption of purchase annuities payable under this Act, and all sums paid in cash by purchasers on the sale by the Land Commission of any land vested in them under this Act. (5) If at any time the said annual payments shall be in arrear for forty days, the amount in arrear shall be charged on, and forthwith made good out of, the Guarantee Fund. (6) Payments by the Land Commission under the preceding sub-sections shall be made at such times in each year as may be prescribed by the Minister for Finance. (7) A sum sufficient to pay the interest and sinking fund on the Bonds issued under this Act for contribution to price and for the Costs Fund shall be paid in each year to the Land Commission out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas. Establishment of Purchase Annuities Fund. 12.—(1) The powers declared in section 6 of the Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act, 1891 , to be exercisable by the Lord Lieutenant or by the Treasury, shall henceforth be exercised by the Minister for Finance, and the notice provided for by sub-section (2) of the said section shall cease to be required. (2) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in the Provisional Government (Transfer of Functions) Order, 1922, all sums collected after the 31st day of March, 1923, in respect of purchase annuities in repayment of advances made or to be made in Saorstát Eireann in pursuance of purchase agreements under the Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act, 1891 , or any later Land Purchase Act other than this Act shall so far as not already paid into the Exchequer be paid into a Fund entitled “The Purchase Annuities Fund” to be established under the control of the Minister for Finance, and there shall from time to time be paid thereout by the Minister for Finance to the appropriate authority for the credit of the Land Purchase Account or the Irish Land Purchase Fund as the case may be an amount equivalent to the purchase annuities accruing due in respect of the aforesaid advances. For the purposes of this section purchase annuities shall be deemed to include interest payable in respect of an advance as aforesaid. (3) The provisions heretofore applicable for making good any deficiency of the Land Purchase Account or of the Irish Land Purchase Fund shall apply as from the 1st day of April, 1923, in the case of the Purchase Annuities Fund in accordance with regulations to be made by the Minister for Finance. (4) The Minister for Finance shall have power to make any adjustments rendered necessary by this section in relation to the Exchequer and the Purchase Annuities Fund and the Guarantee Fund in the case of transactions during the period from the 1st day of April, 1923, to the date of the passing of this Act. Abolition of county limit on advances. 13.—The limit provided by the Land Purchase Acts with respect to the advances which may be made in any county shall not apply to any advances made in pursuance of this Act. Redemption of Purchase Annuities in certain cases. 14.—Where land which is subject to a land purchase annuity has been acquired by the Land Commission under this Act then in such case the annuity for the repayment of the original advance shall be regarded and dealt with as a claim attaching to the purchase money of the land advanced under this Act. Trinity College Dublin. 15.—(1) The provisions of sub-sections (1), (2), and (3) of section 39 of the Irish Land Act, 1903 , providing for the payment to the public trustee of the sum of £5,000 per annum for the account of Trinity College, Dublin, and for the application of the said moneys shall cease to have effect and in lieu thereof the following provisions shall apply:— (2) There shall be paid to the College out of moneys to be provided by the Oireachtas the sum of £3,000 per annum. (3) The investments representing accumulations of the moneys so paid to the public trustee which were not required to make good loss of income to the College and accrued interest thereon shall be transferred to the Minister for Finance and such officer of the College as shall be nominated for the purpose by the Governing Body of the College. (4) The dividends and income arising from the investments so transferred shall be applied by the College in such manner and for such purposes as to the College may seem proper. (5) The investments so transferred may be varied from time to time with the consent and approval of the Minister for Finance. (6) The College may from time to time with the consent of the Minister for Finance realise the whole or any part of the investments so transferred or any other investments for the time being representing the same and apply the moneys arising from such realisation for such purposes as to the College may seem proper and shall be approved of by the Minister for Finance. Ireland Development Grant. 16.—All moneys standing to the credit of the Ireland Development Grant Account at the date of the passing of this Act shall be paid into the Exchequer. Power to make Rules. 17.—The Minister for Finance shall have power to make rules for carrying the provisions of this part of this Act into effect and for adapting to the requirements of this Act such provisions of any enactment passed prior to this Act as relate to Land Purchase Finance. PART II.—LAND PURCHASE. Prohibition of agreements otherwise than under this Act. 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. Arrears of rent. 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. Payment in lieu of rent. 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. Recovery of compounded arrears of rent and payment in lieu of rent by Land Commission. 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. The furnishing of particulars of rentals, etc. 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. Rent and arrears of rent of sub-tenancies. 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. Vesting of lands in Land Commission on appointed day. 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. The price of land. 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. Sub-tenancies. 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.” Dividends and interest on purchase money pending distribution. 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. Subsequent purchase agreements by tenants. 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. Power of Land Commission in regard to 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. Limitation on advances. 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. Advances for purchase of parcels of land. 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. Resale of untenanted land to owners. 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. Resale to tenants of retained holdings. 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. Vesting of rearranged holdings. 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. Resale of demesnes. 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. Power to Land Commission to purchase untenanted land. 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. Power to acquire any bog. 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. Redemption of fee farm or other rents. 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. Redemption of superior interests on purchased holdings. 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 …