Land Act, 1923
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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. |