Sinn Féin request special Dublin City Council meeting calling on Minister Browne not to impose restrictions to Tenant In Situ Scheme
13 March 2025
Sinn Féin Dublin City Councillors have tonight requested that the Lord Mayor host a special Dublin City Council meeting to discuss the proposed changes to the government’s Tenant In Situ Scheme.
Cllr. Daithí Doolan, Sinn Féin Group Leader on Dublin City Council, said:
“The Tenant In Situ Scheme has been very successful in preventing hundreds of families ending up homeless in Dublin. Last year alone, over 300 households benefited from the scheme. It allowed Dublin City Council buy the properties from landlords who were evicting tenants, allowing the tenant to remain on as council tenants.
“Despite its success, Minister for Housing James Browne is threatening to reduce funding and tighten up criteria, which would have a hugely negative impact on people facing no-fault evictions. This is a mean and vindictive response to a human crisis.
“The recent homeless figures revealed that 70% of all homelessness is now occurring here in Dublin. If the Minister had any understanding of this crisis, he would have reintroduced the Tenant In Situ Scheme and granted adequate funding to Dublin City Council to continue it.
“To highlight the crisis facing Dublin, Sinn Féin is tonight calling on the Lord Mayor to convene a special meeting of Dublin City Council to debate the issue and to urge the Minister not to impose any new restrictions on the Tenant In Situ Scheme, or reductions in funding to the vital homeless prevention measure.
“I’m glad to confirm that our request has received cross-party support, which shows the depth of concern there is for this serious issue.
“We are particularly concerned that the capital allocation for 2025 will be less than the final spend on the scheme in 2024; that refurbishment costs will be excluded; that an arbitrary two-year in receipt of social housing support rule will be applied to properties; that single people and couples without children could be excluded from the scheme.
“We understand that the Minister for Housing James Bowne will sign off on the final shape of the scheme before the end of the month, and we are urging him to provide Dublin City Council with the maximum amount of flexibility on the operation of the scheme and adequate funding to support tenants at risk of homelessness.
“We will be requesting that the mayor writes to the Minister for Housing urging him not to make more adults and children homelessness by approving any restrictions to the operation of the Tenant In Situ Scheme or reductions in funding to this vital homeless prevention measure.”
ENDS
Text of motion calling for special meeting of Dublin City Council:
Dublin City Council fully recognises the positive role the Tenant In Situ Scheme has played in preventing hundreds of adults and children people from entering homelessness.
We are concerned that proposed restrictions to the scheme will reduce the ability of the Council to do everything it can to prevent people from losing their homes.
We are particularly concerned that the capital allocation for 2025 will be less than the final spend on the scheme in 2024; that refurbishment costs will be excluded; that an arbitrary two-year in receipt of social housing support rule will be applied to properties; that single people and couples without children could be excluded from the scheme.
We understand that the Minister for Housing James Bowne will sign off on the final shape of the scheme before the end of the month and are urging him to provide Dublin City Council with the maximum amount of flexibility on the operation of the scheme and adequate funding to support tenants at risk of homelessness.
We agree to write to the Minister for Housing urging him not to make more adults and children homelessness by approving any restrictions to the operation of the Tenant In Situ Scheme or reductions in funding to this vital homeless prevention measure.
