Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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89. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the position regarding the tenant-in-situ scheme; if he proposes to increase the level of funding allocated to Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to support this scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2617/26]

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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90. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the level of funding that will be allocated to the tenant-in-situ scheme at a national level for 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2618/26]

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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91. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the level of funding that will be allocated to the tenant-in-situ scheme for Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council for 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2619/26]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 89 to 91, inclusive, together.

Tenancy sustainment, or tenant-in-situ, is a priority category under my Department's Second Hand Social Housing Acquisitions Programme. It is not a scheme, rather it is a policy tool available to local authorities to prevent social housing supported households in the private rented sector from falling into homelessness, and it should only be used as a last resort by local authorities when all other options have been exhausted.

I expect the parameters of the 2026 Second Hand Acquisitions Programme, including individual local authority allocations, to be notified to local authorities in Q1 this year.

Local authorities have been authorised to enter into commitments for 2026 up to a value of 30% of their original 2025 acquisitions budget. This flexibility effectively provides for a multi-annual approach to programme delivery, facilitating local authorities to plan and progress acquisitions between annual programmes, and from one year to the next, with a higher level of certainty vis-à-vis future funding availability.

In the meantime, my Department will continue to engage with individual local authorities as needed regarding the 2025 programme in order to inform learnings for the 2026 programme and ensure local authorities continue progressing acquisitions pending rollout of the full details of the 2026 Second Hand Acquisitions Programme.