LAND ACT, 1931

• (2) Where the enjoyment of grazing or turbary is declared by a declaration under this section to be a right appurtenant to a holding, such enjoyment shall be a right appurtenant to such holding accordingly, but subject to the conditions and limitations (if any) imposed by such declaration, and such right shall, if and when such holding is vested in a purchaser by a vesting order, continue to be so appurtenant to such holding, but subject as aforesaid.

• (3) The Land Commission shall not make a declaration under this section save either with the consent of all parties concerned or after notice of the application for such declaration has been served in the prescribed manner on all parties concerned and all such parties have been afforded an opportunity of objecting to the making of such declaration.

• (4) Every application for a declaration under this section and every objection duly made to the making of such declaration shall be considered and decided by the Land Commissioners other than the Judicial Commissioner, and there shall be a right of appeal to the Judicial Commissioner from the decision of the other Land Commissioners on any such application or objection and the decision of the Judicial Commissioner on such appeal shall be final, save that an appeal shall lie on questions of law only from the decision of the Judicial Commissioner to the Supreme Court.

41 Apportionment of rates on untenanted land.

41.—(1) Where untenanted land has or shall hereafter become vested in the Land Commission on the appointed day under the Land Act, 1923, and such untenanted land was or is then rated in conjunction with other land to poor rate or any other rate, all poor rate and other rate made or assessed in respect of all such land for the local financial year current on the appointed day shall be apportioned between such untenanted land and such other land.

• (2) Where rates are apportioned under this section between untenanted land vested in the Land Commission and other land, the proportion of such rates so apportioned to such untenanted land shall alone be deemed to have been made or assessed in respect of such untenanted land within the meaning of sub-section (1) of section 18 of the Land Act, 1927, and that section shall be construed and have effect accordingly.

42 Extension of powers of resumption.

42.—(1) The Land Commission shall have and may exercise in respect of any land (other than a holding to which the Land Act, 1923, applies) vested in them either before or after the passing of this Act all the like powers of resumption in whole or in part as they have and may exercise in respect of holdings to which the Land Act, 1923, applies.

• (2) When the Land Commission resume under this section a part of a holding they may apportion the rent payable in respect of such holding between the part so resumed and the remainder of such holding as the justice of the case may require.

• (3) Where the Land Commission resume under this section the whole or part of a non-judicial holding, the rent payable by the tenant of such holding at the time of such resumption shall, for the purpose of fixing the compensation payable in respect of such resumption, be deemed to be a third term judicial rent and the said compensation shall be fixed accordingly.

43 Compensation for disturbance on resumption of holdings.

43.—Where, in the opinion of the Court, it would be inequitable that the Land Commission should resume a holding or part of a holding on payment to the tenant of compensation fixed on the basis on which resumption prices have heretofore been fixed, the Court in fixing the compensation in respect of such resumption may include therein compensation to the tenant for disturbance, and also may have regard not only to the value of the land to be resumed, but also to the damage, if any, which will be sustained by the tenant by reason of the resumption of the lands as affecting his user of other lands or otherwise causing injury to such other lands.

44 Untenanted land held under fee farm grant or long lease.

44.—(1) Where, on the application of the owner of a parcel of untenanted land, and after notice to all interested parties, the Land Commission is satisfied—

• (a) that such parcel is held by such owner under a fee farm grant, lease for lives or years renewable for ever, or lease for a term of years of which sixty or more were unexpired at the date of the passing of the Land Act, 1923, whether such grant or lease does or does not comprise other land as well as such parcel, and

• (b) that such owner is in bona fide occupation of such parcel and occupies and uses it in the same manner as an ordinary farmer in accordance with proper methods of husbandry, and

• (c) that the rent payable by such owner in respect of such parcel is not less than the rent which in the opinion of the Land Commission would have been the fair rent of such parcel at the date of the passing of the Land Act, 1923, if such parcel had then been held by such owner under a statutory tenancy subject to a third term judicial rent, and

• (d) that such owner is willing to repurchase such parcel and that it should be resold to him, and

• (e) that such parcel is not required for the relief of congestion,

the Land Commission may by order declare that such parcel shall vest in the Land Commission on the appointed day as if it were tenanted land.

• (2) Where the fee farm grant or lease under which a parcel of untenanted land the subject of an application under the foregoing sub-section of this section is held comprises, in addition to such parcel, other land which is not in the occupation of the owner of such parcel (whether such owner has or has not any estate or interest in such other land) the Land Commission may either apportion the rent reserved by such grant or lease between such parcel and such other land or exclusively charge the whole of such rent on such parcel and thereupon the rent so apportioned to or exclusively charged on such parcel shall be deemed for the purposes of this section to be the rent payable by such owner in respect of such parcel.

• (3) Where a parcel of untenanted land becomes vested in the Land Commission by virtue of an order made under this section the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—

• (a) the owner of such parcel shall be deemed to have entered on the appointed day into a subsequent purchase agreement for the purchase of such parcel as if it were a holding held by such owner at the rent payable by him in respect of such parcel;

• (b) arrears of the rent payable by such owner in respect of such parcel which accrued due on or before the first gale day in the year 1928 and are unpaid on the appointed day shall not be payable by such owner;

• (c) arrears of the said rent which accrued due after the first gale day in the year 1928 and before the appointed day and are unpaid on the appointed day together with an apportioned gale of such rent from the last gale day before the appointed day up to the appointed day shall be compounded by the addition of compounded arrears of rent (calculated as hereinafter mentioned) to the purchase money of such parcel;

• (d) the amount of the compounded arrears of rent so to be added to such purchase money shall be seventy-five per cent. of the arrears of rent and apportioned gale of rent so to be compounded.

• (4) Applications to the Land Commission for an order under sub-section (1) of this section shall be heard and decided by the Land Commissioners other than the Judicial Commissioner and an appeal shall lie to the Judicial Commissioner from the decision of the other Commissioners on any such application (including any apportionment or exclusive charge of a rent) and the decision of the Judicial Commissioner on such appeal shall be final, save that an appeal shall lie on questions of law only from such decision of the Judicial Commissioner to the Supreme Court.

• (5) Section 11 of the Land Act, 1927, is hereby repealed without prejudice to the continuance, completion, and validity of proceedings under that section which are pending at the passing of this Act.

• (6) The owner of a parcel of untenanted land shall not be precluded from applying to the Land Commission under this section nor shall an application under this section be refused solely by reason or on the ground of an application under section 11 of the Land Act, 1927, in respect of the same parcel of land having been refused before the passing of this Act.

45 Extension of powers of providing for maintenance of embankments, etc.

45.—(1) Where, in the case of an estate the holdings on which are vested under this Act in the purchasers thereof, it appears to the Judicial Commissioner, within six years after the publication of the vesting orders or the last of the vesting orders in respect of such holdings, that he could on the distribution of the purchase money of such estate, if application in that behalf had then been made to him, have directed under sub-section (1) of section 44 of the Land Act, 1923, the transfer of land bonds to the Public Trustee for the purposes mentioned in that section, the Judicial Commissioner may within the said period of six years order any person who on such distribution received for his own benefit or received and retained under his control as a trustee any portion of such purchase money to repay to the Public Trustee so much (if any) of the said purchase money so received or so received and retained by him as the Judicial Commissioner shall consider he could have so directed to be so transferred on such distribution.

• (2) Land bonds paid to the Public Trustee in pursuance of an order made under this section shall be applied in accordance with sub-section (2) of section 44 of the Land Act, 1923, as if they had been transferred to him under sub-section (1) of that section.

46 Extension of powers of recouping expenditure on repair of embankments, etc.

46.—(1) Where in the case of an estate the holdings on which are vested under this Act in the purchasers thereof, it appears to the Judicial Commissioner (on the application of the Land Commission) within six years after the publication of the vesting orders or the last of the vesting orders in respect of such holdings, that he could on the distribution of the purchase money of such estate, if an application in that behalf had then been made to him by the Land Commission, have ordered under section 20 of the Land Act, 1927, the transfer of land bonds to the Land Commission, the Judicial Commissioner may within the said period of six years order any person who on such distribution received for his own benefit or received and retained under his control as a trustee any portion of such purchase money to repay to the Land Commission so much (if any) of the said purchase money so received or so received and retained by him as the Judicial Commissioner shall consider he could have so ordered to be so transferred on such distribution.

• (2) Land bonds paid to the Land Commission in pursuance of an order made under this section shall be applied by the Land Commission to the purposes for which such land bonds would have been applicable if they had been transferred to the Land Commission under section 20 of the Land Act, 1927.

47 Holdings deteriorated or reduced by neglect of landlord to repair drains. etc.

47.—(1) Where the landlord of any tenanted land vested or to be vested under this Act was, prior to the declaration of the appointed day for such land, liable, either alone or in conjunction with another person or other persons and either under the terms of a contract of tenancy or under a statute or otherwise, to cleanse or maintain or to contribute to the cleansing or maintenance of any watercourse, drain, embankment, or other work and such landlord neglected so to cleanse or maintain or contribute to the cleansing or maintenance of such work and by reason of such neglect a holding on such tenanted land has become permanently deteriorated or substantially reduced in area and in consequence of such deterioration or reduction the Land Commission is not satisfied that such holding is security for the standard purchase annuity to which, but for this section, it would become liable on vesting, the Land Commission, on the application of any person interested or without any such application and either before or after the appointed day—

• (a) may, where the purchase money of such holding has not been advanced, make an order refusing to advance such purchase money and may thereupon fix the standard purchase annuity of such holding in the manner provided by the Land Act, 1923, in respect of holdings subject to rents other than judicial rents where the landlord and the tenant do not agree; or

• (b) may, where the purchase money of such holding has been advanced, reduce the standard purchase annuity of such holding to the amount of a standard purchase annuity to be thereupon fixed by the Land Commission for such holding in the manner provided by the Land Act, 1923, in respect of holdings subject to rents other than judicial rents where the landlord and the tenant do not agree.

• (2) Section 2 of the Land Act, 1929, shall not apply to standard purchase annuities fixed by the Land Commission under this section.

• (3) The Land Commission shall not make an order under this section save either with the consent of all parties concerned or after notice has been served in the prescribed manner on all parties concerned and all such parties have been afforded an opportunity of objecting to the making of such order.

• (4) Every application for an order under this section and every objection duly made to the making of any such order shall be considered and decided by the Land Commissioners other than the Judicial Commissioner and there shall be a right of appeal to the Judicial Commissioner from the decision of the other Land Commissioners on any such application or objection and the decision of the Judicial Commissioner on such appeal shall be final, save that an appeal shall lie on questions of law only from the decision of the Judicial Commissioner to the Supreme Court.

48 Grants for expenses of transferring migrants.

48.—The powers of the Land Commission to expend money for the benefit or improvement of land purchased or agreed to be purchased under the Land Purchase Acts shall extend to and include the grant, where the Land Commission think it expedient, of such sums for or towards the expenses of transferring migrants to their new holdings as the Land Commission may think fit.

49 Variation of tithe rent-charges and variable rents.

49.—(1) The sum payable in respect of every gale of a tithe rentcharge or a variable rent which has accrued or shall accrue due after the 1st day of November 1930, shall be ninety-two per cent, of the sum which was payable in respect of the gale of such tithe rentcharge or such variable rent (as the case may be) which accrued due next before the 2nd day of November, 1930.

• (2) No variation of any tithe rentcharge or of any variable rent shall be made under (as the case may be) sections 2 and 3 of the Tithe Rentcharge (Ireland) Act, 1900, or those sections as applied by section 90 of the Irish Land Act, 1903, in respect of any gale of such tithe rentcharge or variable rent accruing after the 1st day of November 1930.

• (3) In this section the expression “tithe rentcharge” means a rentcharge in lieu of tithes whether payable to the Land Commission or to a lay impropriator or to any other person but does not include a tithe rentcharge which is excluded by section 8 of the Tithe Rentcharge (Ireland) Act, 1900, from the operation of section 3 of that Act, and the expression “variable rent” means a rent to which sections 2 and 3 of the Tithe Rentcharge (Ireland) Act, 1900, apply by virtue of section 90 of the Irish Land Act, 1903.

50 Payment of additional sum by payers of certain purchase annuities.

50.—(1) A person by whom a purchase annuity in respect of an advance made after the passing of this Act under section 38 or section 39 of the Land Act, 1923, is payable shall on the first gale-day on which a payment in respect of such purchase annuity is payable pay to the Land Commission (in addition to such payment) an additional sum equivalent to a proportion of such purchase annuity for the period between such gale-day and the next day on which dividends are payable on land bonds.

• (2) The Land Commission shall have for the recovery of sums payable to them under this section the same remedies as they have for unpaid instalments of purchase annuities

51 Times for payment of additional sums.

51.—Every additional sum which is by the Land Purchase Acts (including this Act) made payable to the Land Commission by a purchaser on the first gale day on which an instalment of purchase annuity or of a sum equivalent to purchase annuity is payable shall, notwithstanding anything contained in those Acts, be paid at such times (not being earlier than such first gale day) and in such instalments as shall be prescribed by rules made by the Land Commission.

52 Making of periodical returns by the Land Commission.

52.—Section 33 of the Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act, 1891, is hereby repealed and in lieu thereof it is hereby enacted that the Land Commission shall make such periodical returns at such times and in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall direct.

53 Rules and regulations.

53.—(1) The Land Commission may, after consultation with the President of the Incorporated Law Society, make rules for carrying into effect the provisions (other than provisions relating to land purchase finance) of this Act, and in this Act the word “prescribed” means prescribed by such rules.

• (2) The Minister for Finance may make regulations for carrying into effect the provisions of this Act relating to land purchase finance and may by such regulations adapt to the requirements of this Act any provision relating to land purchase finance contained in any Act passed before this Act.

54 Short title, construction and citation.

54.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Land Act, 1931.

• (2) This Act shall be construed as one with the Land Purchase Acts and may be cited with those Acts.