Land Act, 1939

Resumption of holdings.

39.—(1) It is hereby declared and enacted that the Land Commission have and shall have power to resume, in whole or in part, for any one or more of the following purposes, any holding vested under the Land Purchase Acts in them or in the late Congested Districts Board for Ireland, that is to say:—

(a) for the purpose of relieving congestion as defined in sub-section (4) of section 73 of the Land Act, 1923 ;

(b) for the purpose of the provision of land for resale to any of the persons or bodies mentioned in section 31 of the Land Act, 1923 , as amended by sub-section (2) of section 33 of the Land Act, 1933 ;

(c) for the purpose of increasing the food supply of the country;

(d) for the purpose of improving or rearranging the holding.

(2) The following provisions shall have effect whenever the Land Commission proposes to apply to the Appeal Tribunal for leave to resume a holding or part of a holding, that is to say:—

(a) the Land Commission shall give in the prescribed manner to the person appearing to be in occupation of the holding or of the said part thereof notice that the Land Commission propose to apply for leave to resume under the first sub-section of this section the holding or the said part thereof (as the case may be) and that the person to whom such notice is given may, within the prescribed time, present to the Land Commission a petition that the holding or the said part thereof be not resumed without further inquiry;

(b) if such petition as is mentioned in the said notice is presented to the Land Commission within the prescribed time, such petition shall be considered and all questions arising under it shall be decided by the Lay Commissioners (other than the members of the Appeal Tribunal) and the decision of those Commissioners shall be final subject only to an appeal to the Appeal Tribunal on a question of law;

(c) if no such petition is presented within the prescribed time or if such petition is so presented and is refused, the Lay Commissioners (other than the members of the Appeal Tribunal) may certify that the holding or the said part thereof (as the case may be) is required by the Land Commission for such one or more of the purposes mentioned in sub-section (1) of this section as shall be specified in that behalf in such certificate;

(d) the said certificate shall be conclusive evidence that the holding or the said part thereof (as the case may be) is required by the Land Commission for a purpose for which the resumption thereof can lawfully be authorised, and upon receipt of the said certificate the Appeal Tribunal shall authorise the resumption of the holding or the said part thereof, as the case may be.

(3) Whenever the Appeal Tribunal authorises, under the foregoing sub-section of this section, the Land Commission to resume a holding or a part of a holding and the Lay Commissioners (other than the members of the Appeal Tribunal) certify that it is expedient that such holding or part of a holding should immediately be available for distribution or for the carrying out of improvements with a view to distribution, the Appeal Tribunal shall authorise the Land Commission to enter into possession of such holding or part of a holding notwithstanding that the resumption price may not have been fixed.

(4) Whenever the Land Commission, by virtue of an authority given by the Appeal Tribunal under the next preceding sub-section of this section, enters into possession of a holding or a part of a holding before the resumption price thereof has been fixed, there shall be paid to the person entitled to such resumption price—

(a) if such resumption price is payable in land bonds, interest (less income tax) on such resumption price at the rate at which the interest on such land bonds is payable from the date on which the Land Commission so enters into possession to the date of the issue of such land bonds, or

(b) if such resumption price is payable in cash, interest (less income tax) on such resumption price at such rate as the Minister for Finance shall direct from the date on which the Land Commission so enters into possession to the date on which such resumption price is paid.

(5) It is hereby declared and enacted that whenever the Land Commission resumes a holding or part of a holding, the following provisions apply and shall apply and have effect, that is to say:—

(a) the resumption price of such holding or part of a holding, that is to say, the compensation to be paid therefor by the Land Commission, shall be the market value of the holding or part of a holding so resumed;

(b) section 43 of the Land Act, 1931 , shall apply and have effect in relation to a resumption price fixed under the next preceding paragraph of this sub-section and, for the purpose of such application the words “basis on which resumption prices have heretofore been fixed” in the said section 43 shall be deemed to mean the market price of the holding or part of a holding so resumed;

(c) where the Land Commission, in pursuance of the next following sub-section of this section, acquires other land from the tenant of the resumed holding, the foregoing provisions of this sub-section shall apply to the price to be paid by the Land Commission for such other land as if such price were a resumption price.

(6) Where the Lay Commissioners (other than the members of the Appeal Tribunal) are satisfied in respect of a holding that, having regard to the area, situation, and character of such holding, the amount of congestion and of unemployment existing in the district in which such holding is situate and in the country generally, and the desirability of increasing the production of food supplies, an adequate amount of agricultural products is being produced on such holding and an adequate amount of employment (including in such amount the employment of any relatives of the tenant of such holding who are permanently employed thereon) is being provided on such holding, then and in such case the following provisions shall apply and have effect, that is to say:—

(a) notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions of this section, the Land Commission shall not resume such holding or any part thereof for any purpose other than the relief of congestion in the locality in which such holding is situate, or the provision of sportsfields, parks, pleasure-grounds, or playgrounds for the inhabitants of villages, towns or cities or for schools, or the provision of gardens for schools;

(b) if—

(i) the Land Commission resumes such holding or a part thereof, and

(ii) the tenant of such holding or the wife or husband of such tenant resides on such holding or in the immediate neighbourhood thereof, and

(iii) neither such tenant nor such wife or husband is the owner of land (other than such holding or the part thereof resumed) the market value of which exceeds two thousand pounds, and

(iv) such tenant, within the prescribed time and in the prescribed manner, requires the Land Commission, if part only of such holding has been resumed, to resume the whole of such holding and (whether such holding is resumed in whole or in part) to acquire all (if any) other land held or belonging to him in the neighbourhood of such holding and, in any case, requires the Land Commission to provide him with a new holding,

then and in such case the Land Commission shall comply with such requisition and shall provide such tenant with a new holding which the Lay Commissioners (other than the members of the Appeal Tribunal) consider to be suitable for him and also consider (subject to a right of appeal to the Appeal Tribunal whose decision shall be final) to be of not less market value than the market value of the resumed holding and the other land (if any) acquired in pursuance of such requisition or the sum of two thousand pounds, whichever is the lesser;

(c) where the Land Commission provide such tenant with a new holding in pursuance of the next preceding paragraph of this sub-section, the amount (if any) by which the resumption price of the resumed holding together with the price of the other land (if any) acquired from such tenant in pursuance of the said paragraph exceeds the market value of the said new holding so provided shall be payable in land bonds.

(7) The foregoing provisions of this section shall have effect notwithstanding anything contained in section 5 of the Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1881, as amended by subsequent enactments or in section 11 of the Land Act, 1933 .

(8) Section 31 of the Land Act, 1933 , and sub-sections (2) and (3) of section 24 of the Land Act, 1936 , are hereby repealed.