DCC calls on housing minister to protect Tenant in Situ scheme

Dublin City Council has unanimously passed a motion which demands that the Minister for Housing protect the Tenant In Situ scheme.

The motion, proposed by Sinn Féin’s members on Dublin City Council, was agreed on by all parties.

The scheme allows local authorities to buy properties from a landlord when families are facing eviction and allows the householders to remain in the homes as council tenants.

However, the new Minister for Housing has not given any indication of whether the scheme will be funded for 2025.

As a result of the limbo, over 100 tenants are facing homelessness as they are unsure if they fall under the eligibility criteria for the scheme.

A special meeting of Dublin City Council was held on March 24 to discuss the scheme, and councillors from both government and opposition parties stated the need to keep the scheme and provide clarity.

Councillor Daithí Doolan, Sinn Féin’s group leader on Dublin City Council said, “we can all agree that the Tenant In Situ scheme has been a very useful tool in preventing homelessness in Dublin; last year alone several hundred families were saved from homelessness because of the Tenant In Situ scheme.”

“The minister needs to listen to the local authority in the country and immediately reinstate the successful Tenant In Situ scheme,” he said.

Doolan’s party colleague Micheál Mac Donncha said, “what we’re witnessing with the proposed scrapping of the Tenant in Situ scheme is yet again a retreat from public housing.”

The Donaghmede councillor said, “it is quite obvious that key top civil servants and key ministers never wanted this scheme in the first place. It was pioneered here in Dublin, and it was a great success and hundreds of families from homelessness.”

Mac Donncha noted that Fine Gael’s former Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy shut down the scheme for new applicants in early 2020, only to be reinstated once Fianna Fáil’s Darragh O’Brien took office and reinstated the scheme.

With a new Minister for Housing in place, Mac Donncha said that there is a desire within the Department of Housing and the Department of Public Expenditure to sunset the scheme for good.

“There is a lack of certainty and a lack of clarity; councillors don’t know where we stand, and now they (government departments) want to choke it to death with needless restrictions.”

Fianna Fáil councillor Deirdre Heney accused Sinn Féin of “scaremongering” and said, “the way they (Sinn Féin councillors) were going on tonight, you’d think the Tenant in Situ scheme was being abolished.”

The Clontarf councillor said that under new government plans, families, older persons and people with disabilities are being prioritised in the scheme, which she noted “was in in line” with how other local authorities across Ireland handle the scheme.

Fianna Fáil councillor Daryl Barron said, “what annoys and frustrates me is that we have certain political parties who want to political grandstand, but they want to get off the fence and play senior hurling and get into government instead of talking and waffling.”

“We need to get down to business and tell the Minister that the criteria is not fit for purpose. We need to get Minister Browne in to speak to us,” the Donaghmede councillor said.

Fine Gael councillor Ray McAdam said that he “110%” supports the scheme, saying “too many of my constituents have been sleeping in various emergency accommodations across the city.”

The North Inner City councillor said, “the value for money, in my book, is providing and keeping people in their homes. It’s not rocket science.”

McAdam said he has concerns about restrictions being added to the scheme, taking issue with the Fianna Fáil line of “prioritisation” of certain people within the scheme.

“I don’t believe those restrictions are necessary; what I believe is that the Minister needs to clarify the situation ASAP and I fully endorse him coming into this council chamber to address the questions put forward tonight.”

Independent councillor Cieran Perry backed claims made by Mac Donncha and Green councillor Carolyn Moore that the issue was “idelogical.”

The Cabra-Glasnevin councillor said “we’ve already seen a number of previous attacks on this scheme; I don’t think anyone is under any illusion that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are not comfortable with public housing,” he remarked.

“By any measure, this scheme is a no-brainer; it increases public housing stock and it provides comfort for families under the threat of homelessness.”

Fellow independent councillor Christy Burke noted that in the recent general election, the promise of houses being built was a major selling point.

He expressed bemusement over remarks from Fine Gael Minister Peter Burke who said, “we have turned the corner on housing.”

“It is our job to hold the government to account; Minister Burke should be informed that we are not going away. If we need to hold more special meetings, so be it.”

Social Democrats leader on Dublin City Council, Cat O’Driscoll, said the government parties are “taking a wrecking ball” to the scheme.

“We’ve seen the government gut other tools like the eviction ban two years ago this month; 85% of evictions are no-fault evictions,” she noted, with nationwide homeless figures hitting record highs ever since the eviction ban was lifted in March 2023.

“We are taking away the supports that give renters any sense of security,” the Cabra-Glasnevin councillor said.

The Social Democrats councillor expressed concern that single people are not covered under the scheme and not enough one-bed units were being built to facilitate their needs.

Green councillor Donna Cooney said, “Dublin City Council were buying housing in the late 90s because we weren’t building at the time due to a lack of funding, and we were then restricted.”

“Here we are again, when we need every single tool in the toolbox and we have a housing crisis – so let’s just keep some of those back. It just doesn’t make sense whatsoever.”

The Deputy Lord Mayor said, “we want to build and increase housing stock, and this is a tool we can use to prevent homelessness.”

“The scheme should be extended; it works to prevent people from going into homelessness,” the Clontarf councillor added.

The motion was unanimously carried in a vote of Dublin City Council members.