Land Act , 1936

1 Short title, construction, and citation.

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Land Act, 1936.

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

2 General rules.

2.—The power of making rules conferred by sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 3 of the Land Act, 1933, shall extend to and be exercisable for making 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.

3 Expenses.

3.—All expenses incurred by the Minister for Lands, and all payments made and expenses incurred by the Land Commission, in the execution of this Act shall, to such extent as shall be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

4 Drawings for the redemption of land bonds.

4.—(1) Regulations made by the Minister for Finance under the Land Bond Act, 1933 (No. 33 of 1933), for the purposes of sub-section (4) of section 4 of that Act, and any order or regulations made by the said Minister under the Land Bond Act, 1934 (No. 11 of 1934), for the purposes of sub-section (2) of section 7 of that Act may provide for both or either of the following things, that is to say:—

(a) that no drawings for the redemption of the land bonds or series of land bonds to which such regulations or order relate shall take place before the expiration of two years from the date of the first issue of such land bonds or series of land bonds or until, on some 1st day of May or 1st day of November, not less than eighty per cent. of the nominal amount of such of the said land bonds or series of land bonds as shall have been issued before such day are registered in the books of the National City Bank,

(b) that, for the purposes of any drawing for the redemption of such land bonds or series of land bonds, land bonds of the denomination of ten pounds may be grouped in units of one hundred pounds, and land bonds of the denomination of one pound may be grouped in similar units of one hundred pounds.

(2) All sums set aside in the land bond fund in pursuance of section 5 of the Land Bond Act, 1933 (No. 33 of 1933), or of an order made under section 4 of the Land Bond Act, 1934 (No. 11 of 1934), and not immediately required for the redemption of land bonds may be invested by the Minister for Finance, if he so thinks fit, in the purchase of any stock, fund, or security in which trustees are authorised by section 18 of the Adaptation of Enactments Act, 1922 (No. 2 of 1922), to invest trust funds or in the purchase of any stock, shares, or security the principal of and interest on which are guaranteed under statutory authority by the Government of Saorstát Eireann, and if and whenever any sum so set aside is so invested the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—

(a) it shall be lawful for the Minister for Finance, as and when he so thinks proper, to sell any such investment;

(b) the net proceeds of the sale of any such investment shall be paid into the land bond fund;

(c) all interest or dividend received by the Minister for Finance on or in respect of any such investment shall be paid into the land bond fund;

(d) all moneys paid into the land bond fund under this section in respect of any investment shall be available for any purpose for which the moneys used for the purchase of such investment would have been available.

5 Redemption of funding annuities on resumed holdings.

5.—(1) Whenever the Land Commission resumes a holding on which a funding annuity is charged, such funding annuity shall be redeemed out of the resumption price of such holding by the sale of sufficient of the land bonds representing such resumption price to pay the redemption price of such funding annuity.

(2) Whenever a funding annuity is redeemed in pursuance of this section, the redemption price thereof shall be ascertained in accordance with section 22 of the Land Act, 1933.

6 Redemption of purchase annuities on holdings acquired by the Land Commission.

6.—(1) Whenever the redemption price of a purchase annuity charged on land acquired by the Land Commission is, in pursuance of section 14 of the Land Act, 1923, regarded and dealt with as a claim attaching to the purchase money of such land, the redemption price of such purchase annuity shall (notwithstanding anything contained in section 3 of the Land Act, 1923, as amended by section 4 of the Land Bond Act, 1925 (No. 25 of 1925), or in the said section 3 as so amended and applied by either section 2 of the Land Bond Act, 1933 (No. 33 of 1933), or section 2 of the Land Bond Act, 1934 (No. 11 of 1934)) be paid by transferring to the Land Commission so much of the land bonds representing the said purchase money as shall be sufficient at the price of the day to pay the redemption price of such purchase annuity.

(2) Sub-section (3) of section 1 of the Land Act, 1923, as amended by section 3 of the Land Bond Act, 1925, is hereby amended by the deletion therefrom of the sentence now contained therein which begins with the words “Such regulations” and ends with the words “under this Act”.

7 Grants in relation to the transfer of migrants.

7.—(1) 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 to or expenditure for the benefit of a migrant (whether before or after he is put into possession of his new holding but not later than eighteen months after he is so put into possession) of such sums as the Land Commission shall think necessary or expedient for either or both of the following purposes, that is to say:—

(a) the purchase by or for the benefit of such migrant of provisions and fuel for himself and the members of his family residing with him;

(b) assisting such migrant in the cultivation and development of his new holding.

(2) The sums expended by the Land Commission under the foregoing sub-section of this section shall, up to but not exceeding such amount as shall be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance in respect of each year, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

(3) The expenses of transferring migrants to their new holdings in respect of which the Land Commission is empowered by section 48 of the Land Act, 1931, to make grants shall include and be deemed always to have included the expenses of bringing a migrant to inspect a holding proposed to be allotted to him.

8 Transfer of annuity and arrears on exchange of holdings.

8.—(1) Where a new holding is provided for a migrant in exchange for an old holding on which a funding annuity is charged, the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—

(a) such funding annuity shall, unless the Land Commission otherwise orders, be transferred to and charged on the new holding in exoneration of the old holding as on and from the date on which the old holding is transferred to the Land Commission, and

(b) the charge of such funding annuity on the new holding shall rank next in priority after the purchase annuity, rent, interest, or other annual payment (as the case may be) which is charged on or issues out of such holding, and

(c) if the new holding is or becomes subject to a purchase annuity, the said funding annuity shall be consolidated with such purchase annuity in accordance with regulations made or to be made by the Minister for Finance.

(2) Where a new holding is provided for a migrant in exchange for an old holding which is subject to a purchase annuity for the repayment of purchase money to which arrears of rent or of interest on purchase money (whether with or without costs and expenses) were added under sub-section (2) of section 16 of the Land Act, 1933, on the vesting of such holding in the purchaser, the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—

(a) the said purchase annuity shall, unless the Land Commission otherwise orders, be apportioned and so much thereof as represents the said arrears and the said costs and expenses (if any) so added as aforesaid shall be transferred to and charged on the new holding in exoneration of the old holding as on and from the date on which the old holding is transferred to the Land Commission, and

(b) if the new holding is or becomes subject to a purchase annuity, the said portion of the purchase annuity on the old holding so transferred to the new holding shall be consolidated with the said purchase annuity on the new holding in accordance with regulations made or to be made by the Minister for Finance.

(3) Where a new holding is provided for a migrant in exchange for an old holding before such old holding has been vested in him, all arrears of rent or of interest on purchase money and all (if any) costs and expenses which would, under sub-section (2) of section 16 of the Land Act, 1933, have been added to the purchase money of the old holding on the vesting thereof in a purchaser shall, in lieu of being so added, be added (unless the Land Commission otherwise orders) to the purchase money of the new holding when it is vested in such migrant.

(4) Where a new holding is provided for a migrant in exchange for an old holding, all (if any) arrears of purchase annuity, interest, rent, or other annual payment charged on or payable in respect of the old holding which accrued after the first gale day in the year 1933 and were due and owing on the date of the transfer of the old holding to the Land Commission and the amount of all costs and expenses (if any) incurred by the Land Commission before the date of the said transfer in proceedings for the recovery of any such arrears shall, unless the Land Commission otherwise orders, be transferred to and charged on the new holding in exoneration of the old holding as on and from the date of the said transfer and shall be recoverable out of the new holding in like manner in all respects as if the said purchase annuity, interest, rent, or other annual payment had been payable in respect of the new holding.

(5) The provisions of this section are in addition to and not in substitution for the provisions of section 46 of the Land Act, 1923, which relate to the transfer of burdens on an exchange of holdings.

(6) In this section the word “holding” includes a parcel of untenanted land.

9 Sale of defaulters' holdings discharged from arrears.

9.—Where the Land Commission have obtained possession of a holding under section 37 of the Land Act, 1927, on account of default in the payment of the purchase annuity charged on such holding or have taken up a parcel of land from an allottee on account of default in the payment of interest, rent, or other annual payment payable in respect of such parcel, the Land Commission may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, re-sell such holding or re-allot such parcel discharged from the whole or a specified part of the arrears of such purchase annuity or annual payment (as the case may be) and shall in such case write off as irrecoverable the arrears from which such holding or parcel is so discharged.

10 Land bonds over-issued or under-issued for compounded arrears of rent.

10.—The provisions of sub-section (3) of section 13 and of paragraphs (c) and (d) of sub-section (2) of section 15 of the Land Act, 1931, and the provisions of sections 18, 19, and 20 of that Act (as amended by this Act) shall apply and have effect and be deemed always to have applied and had effect in relation to the portion of a purchase annuity which is payable in respect of sums added to the purchase money for compounded arrears of rent in like manner as they apply and have effect in relation to the residue of such purchase annuity, and the appropriate guarantee deposit retained under section 21 of the Land Act, 1931, shall be available in relation to the said portion of such purchase annuity accordingly.

11 Amendment of provisions relating to land bonds over-issued.

11.—(1) In this section the expression “excess land bonds” means land bonds which have been issued in respect of an advance made for the purchase of a holding and are not required for that purpose either because the proceedings in respect of such holding have been dismissed or because the purchase annuity of such holding has been reduced.

(2) Where excess land bonds have been issued and have not been allocated, the following provisions shall have effect by way of amendment of sections 13, 15, 18, 19, and 20 of the Land Act, 1931, and shall, in so far as they are inconsistent with the provisions of any of those sections, be deemed to be substituted for the provisions of those sections, that is to say:—

(a) the Land Commission shall transfer such excess land bonds (with the appropriate interest accrued thereon from the issue thereof to the last day for the payment of dividends thereon) to an adjustment account in the books of the Land Commission;

(b) whenever it is necessary, in the circumstances mentioned in sub-section (1) of section 18 of the Land Act, 1931, to issue additional land bonds, the Land Commission may, in lieu of issuing such additional land bonds, provide such land bonds by transferring the requisite number of land bonds (with such accrued interest as may be requisite) of the appropriate series from the said adjustment account to the credit of the estate in which such additional land bonds are required;

(c) the advances and State contribution for which land bonds transferred under this section to the said adjustment account were issued shall be redeemed or written off by the Land Commission;

(d) sub-section (2) of the said section 18 shall apply and have effect in relation to land bonds transferred under this section from the said adjustment account to the credit of an estate as if such land bonds were additional land bonds issued on the date of such transfer;

(e) all land bonds which are transferred under this section to the said adjustment account and are not transferred under this section to the credit of an estate shall be cancelled or otherwise disposed of in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall from time to time direct;

(f) whenever land bonds are transferred under this section to the said adjustment account, the vendor or other person who shall have received the interest on such land bonds shall pay to the Land Commission a sum equal to so much of the interest accrued on such land bonds up to the date of such transfer as is not available for transfer under this section with such land bonds to the said adjustment account, and if and so far as such sum is not so paid to the Land Commission it may be recovered by the Land Commission on allocation as a claim against the purchase money.

(3) The following paragraph shall be and is hereby inserted in section 20 of the Land Act, 1931, in lieu of paragraph (c) of that section and also in sub-section (4) of section 21 of the said Act in lieu of paragraph (b) of that sub-section, that is to say:—

“a sum equal to the interest at the rate of four and three-quarters per cent. per annum on so much of the land bonds so redeemed as were issued for advances to purchasers for the period from the date of the issue of such land bonds to the day for the payment of dividends on such land bonds next before the redemption of such land bonds.”

(4) This section shall have and be deemed always to have had effect as on and from the passing of the Land Act, 1931.

12 Times for payment of additional sums.

12.—(1) Section 51 (which relates to the times for payment of additional sums) of the Land Act, 1931, is hereby repealed and in lieu thereof it is hereby enacted that every additional sum which is by the Land Purchase Acts 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 be paid at such times and in such manner in all respects as it would have been payable if the said section 51 had never been enacted.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing sub-section of this section, all instalments of additional sums for the payment of which the Land Commission has given directions before the passing of this Act shall continue to be payable and shall be paid in accordance with the said section 51 of the Land Act, 1931, and rules made by the Land Commission thereunder.

13 Application of section 38 of the Land Act, 1933, to judicial holdings.

13.—(1) Section 38 of the Land Act, 1933, shall apply and be deemed always to have applied in the case of a holding included in a list of vested holdings published under section 9 of the Land Act, 1931, which is subject to a judicial rent as well as in the case of a holding so included which is subject to a rent other than a judicial rent, and accordingly the power conferred by the said section on the Land Commission to fix the standard purchase annuity for a holding in the manner provided by Part II of the First Schedule to the Land Act, 1923, shall be exercisable and be deemed always to have been exercisable, in the circumstances mentioned in the said section, in relation to a holding which is subject to a judicial rent as well as in relation to a holding which is subject to a rent other than a judicial rent.

(2) The power conferred on the Land Commission by the said section 38 of the Land Act, 1933, as extended by the foregoing sub-section of this section to fix the standard purchase annuity for a holding in the manner provided by Part II of the First Schedule to the Land Act, 1923, may be exercised, in the circumstances mentioned in the said section 38, in relation to a particular holding subject to a judicial rent notwithstanding any order or decision to the contrary in respect of that particular holding which was made or given before the passing of this Act and was so made or given on the sole ground that such holding was subject to a judicial rent.

14 Power to agree on standard purchase annuity of non-judicial holding.

14.—Where the landlord and the tenant of a holding to which Part II of the Schedule to the Land Act, 1923, applied have, after the passing of the Land Act, 1929, and either before or after the passing of this Act, agreed upon the amount of the standard purchase annuity of such holding, the standard purchase annuity of such holding shall, notwithstanding anything contained in section 2 of the Land Act, 1929, but without prejudice to the powers of the Land Commission under section 38 of the Land Act, 1933, to reduce such standard purchase annuity, be the standard purchase annuity so agreed upon.

15 Cash payments by purchasers.

15.—(1) Where the standard price of a holding together with the compounded arrears of rent (if any) exceeds the amount which the Land Commission has agreed after the passing of this Act to advance to the purchaser for the purchase of such holding, the following provisions shall apply and have effect, that is to say:—