Sinn Féin councillor Daithí Doolan has said that the government announcing an extra €50 million in funding for the tenant-in-situ scheme is “too little too late.”
Doolan, Sinn Féin’s group leader on Dublin City Council, said that the government’s backtracking on funding local councils smacks more of “publicity rather than substance.”
In March, Dublin City Council held a special meeting and called for Minister for Housing James Browne to maintain funding for the scheme, which is designed to keep people out of homelessness.
After months of to-ing and fro-ing, the government relented and have released an extra €50 million in funding, but per Doolan, the money was needed months ago.
In March 2025, the same month Dublin City Council held the special meeting to discuss the tenant-in-situ scheme, the homeless figures in Dublin stood at 11,024.
The most recent set of homeless figures for Dublin stood at 11,567, with cuts to the tenant-in-situ scheme playing a part in the rise in Dublin’s homeless figures.
Doolan criticised the Department of Housing for cutting funding to local authorities in the first place
“The department has not given any time frame for the release of the funding, and no definite allocation for Dublin. This is all about publicity rather than substance. It is a slap in the face for those facing homelessness,” he said.
He said that Minister for Housing James Browne’s decision to cut tenant-in-situ funding for Dublin City Council by €22 million directly led to the rise in homelessness in Dublin.
Per Doolan, 126 households in Dublin face homelessness because of the funding lapse.
The Ballyfermot-Drimnagh councillor said that Dublin City Council has not processed any tenant-in-situ scheme applications received in 2025 due to funding restraints.
“This cut affected the council’s ability to acquire housing for households with disability, older persons requiring urgent housing and the buy and renew scheme”, he explained.
He said the tenant-in-situ scheme is a “very effective” homeless prevention tool as it allowed local authorities to buy homes from landlords who were carrying out no-fault evictions.
Per Doolan, 350 households across Dublin were prevented from becoming homeless because of the scheme.
He stated, “If the Minister was serious about tackling the homeless crisis, he would fully reinstate the tenant-in-situ scheme, reintroduce the no-fault eviction ban and release the funding so badly needed to build council and affordable housing.”
“The policy of drip, drip feed of funding is an insult to all the households facing eviction through no fault of their own.
“This government is clearly out of touch with the reality of Dublin’s housing crisis. We need a radical shift in government housing policy to tackle the housing crisis and eradicate homelessness once and for all,” he said.