Lord Mayor of Dublin Emma Blain has said that she and Minister for Housing James Browne disagreed on the importance of the tenant-in-situ scheme for Dublin city during a meeting to discuss housing and homelessness in the capital.
The Lord Mayor met Mr Browne on Wednesday for what was described as a “constructive meeting” by the Department of Housing. It came following an initial refusal by Mr Browne to meet Ms Blain on the issue, despite her writing to him three times requesting a meeting to discuss funding for the scheme.
In a statement issued after the meeting, Mr Browne said that Ms Blain was “a passionate and articulate advocate for Dublin” and had particularly highlighted the tenant-in-situ scheme.
The statement, however, stopped short of saying that additional funding would be made available for the scheme in 2025.
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The scheme has been in operation since 2023 and has helped hundreds of tenants avoid homelessness. Councils have purchased properties at market price with the tenant remaining in place. Dublin City Council spent €117 million on such second-hand acquisitions in 2025.
After his appointment as Minister earlier this year, Mr Browne announced he was reviewing the scheme and it has been in abeyance since then. Over 100 tenants at risk of homelessness have been left in uncertainty over whether or not they can remain in their rental homes pending the outcome of the review.
In comments after the meeting, Ms Blain indicated that she and the Minister did not see eye-to-eye on the tenant-in-situ scheme.
“I sought a commitment from the Minister that he would seek further funds from the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform,” she said.
“Due to changes issued by the Department for the criteria of the scheme, Dublin City Council is still processing 120 applications from last year but are unable to process any new applications for this year. Yet, there are hundreds of people we could prevent from entering homelessness by using this tool.”
In his statement, Mr Browne said he shared the Lord Mayor’s concerns that homelessness was a particular problem in the capital.
He emphasised, however, that a “major and urgent increase” of housing supply was essential for the city, across social, affordable and privately-built. He added that support for immediate homelessness prevention and for exits was also required.
“To that end, the Lord Mayor agreed to work with the Department on increasing the level of local authority own-build social housing,” he said.
Mr Browne noted that, at present, it accounted for 35 units or 4 per cent of all housing delivery in the Dublin City Council Area.
He also referred to the level of vacancy in the city and said Ms Blain had also “committed to investigating the level of vacancy in the city, as every element that can be looked at should be immediately considered”.
The Lord Mayor, who is a Fine Gael councillor, wrote to Mr Browne, a Fianna Fáil TD for Wexford, three times during March and April on behalf of the Council. Its members had agreed to seek a meeting looking for assurances of future funding for the tenant-in-situ scheme.
Ms Blain received no reply to the first two letters. After the third letter, an official in Mr Browne’s office wrote a one-line email to Ms Blain stating: “The Minister has acknowledged receipt of this letter. Unfortunately, he is unable to facilitate this meeting request.”
Ms Blain wrote to Taoiseach Micheál Martin about the refusal. Mr Browne subsequently agreed to meet her.
