Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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743. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government for an update on his engagement with Cork City Council regarding 33 families in Cork city whose homes are sale agreed under the tenant-in-situ scheme but for whom Cork City Council do not have funds to complete the purchase of their homes. [23788/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The Government is providing substantial financial support to local authorities to acquire second-hand properties for priority categories of need including tenants-in-situ who have been in receipt of supports under HAP or RAS who had received a Notice of Termination and are at risk of becoming homeless.

The €325 million allocation I announced on the 31 March 2025 has been made available to our local authorities for their social housing second-hand acquisitions activity in 2025, with individual allocations for the local authorities being notified to them on 1 April 2025. This is part of almost €2 billion in total which is supporting local authorities and approved housing bodies to deliver new social homes in 2025. Our main emphasis remains on constructing new homes and that unquestionably, is the correct approach.

I, along with my Department, have been engaging with Cork City Council regarding the significant carry-over of costs from their 2024 programme, including acquisitions that closed in early 2025. This carryover presents challenges in terms of prioritising Tenant in Situ acquisitions in 2025. My Department is therefore working closely with the Council to explore how best to meet those challenges and ensure that Tenant in Situ acquisitions remain an option in Cork City Council during 2025 where other solutions cannot be found.

The allocation of €20 million in 2025 to the Council represents approximately 6% of the total fund available across 31 local authorities. To date, €6.8million has been paid to Cork City Council in 2025.