FIANNA Fáil TD Willie O’Dea deemed it “shocking” that Limerick City and County Council spent less than half its allocation for the Tenant in Situ scheme last year.
That this could be the case in the midst of a housing crisis appalled Deputy O’Dea, who told the Limerick Post that every week he is dealing with people facing homelessness.
Many of the landlords involved in evictions, he explained, are willing to sell to the Council so that the tenants don’t have to be evicted.
“Since introduced by Fianna Fáil, the Tenant in Situ programme has been instrumental in helping prevent individuals and families from entering emergency homeless accommodation,” Deputy O’Dea said.
“This funding for this scheme is ring-fenced for purchasing houses in order to support households, particularly large families and children and Housing First Clients, to exit from long-term emergency homeless accommodation. Through the scheme, the Council can purchase properties directly from landlords who want to sell, without the tenants being affected.”
Deputy O’Dea said he was absolutely shocked to find that the Council did not use its full allocation for second hand home acquisitions in 2025.
“Up to December 1, 2025, the Council in Limerick had only drawn down €7,117,136 of the €15,000,000 allocated for Tenant in Situ social housing acquisition in Limerick,” Deputy O’Dea claimed.
“I’m often informed by Council officials that they don’t have the funds to purchase the particular house in question. Yet we have a situation now where half the allocated money is going unspent.
“This situation can’t go on and I am calling on Limerick City and County Council to ensure that going forward all allocated money for the Tenant Purchase Scheme is fully utilised in order to prevent further homelessness,” he added.
In response, Limerick Council said it submitted claims totalling €12,587,673.75 by the Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage deadline date of the December 5, 2025, in relation to second-hand acquisitions in 2025.
A further €1,275,873.17 in claims, it revealed, were sent to the Department for acquisitions after December 5, following the deadline.
“Therefore, a total of €13,863,546.92 was submitted to the DHLGH for 2025. This is in line with the projection communicated to the elected members as part of a special workshop on the 20th November 2025,” a Council spokesperson revealed.
– Local Democracy Reporting Scheme