Rory Hearne (Dublin North-West, Social Democrats)
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558. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the details of two funding streams announced for the tenant-in-situ scheme, an additional €50m announced through press release and an additional 30% of tenant-in-situ budget for local authorities; if there are two separate funding streams, if the €22 million allocated to Dublin City Council is contained in the additional 30% allocation to local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51468/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I recently secured an additional €50 million on foot of the National Development Plan discussions to expand the social housing Second-Hand Acquisitions Programme this year, bringing the budget available for the programme to €375 million.

I am targeting this additional funding at acquisitions supporting households, particularly larger families with children, to exit long-term emergency homeless accommodation. To this end, the funding has been allocated to the eight city and city and county councils, which have the highest number of households that have been emergency accommodation for longer than 24 months in the Dublin region and 12 months or more in the remaining four authorities.

It is a distinct and separate allocation within the broader Second-Hand Acquisitions Programme.

Recognising the lead-in time required to complete such acquisitions, any uncommitted or unspent monies from the additional €50m allocation can be carried forward into 2026. This will allow local authorities to maximise the impact of the funding for vulnerable households. Funding carried forward will remain ring-fenced and separate from any allocation provided generally under the Second-Hand Acquisitions Programme in 2026.

Separately, all local authorities have been given approval to enter into financial commitments for 2026 to a value of up to 30% of their original 2025 acquisitions budget. This flexibility applies to acquisitions for all priority cohorts, including for tenancy sustainment, exits from homelessness, and for other priority groups, such as persons with disabilities, older persons, care leavers, &c.

This is not a new or separate funding stream. Rather it is a flexibility afforded to local authorities that effectively establishes a standard multi-annual approach for the programme, providing local authorities with greater certainty of funding into next year and ensuring priority acquisitions initiated this year and in particular in the last quarter of 2025 which are unlikely to complete until 2026 can continue to be progress.