Concern in Waterford over eviction funding cuts

Serious concern has been expressed in County Waterford over funding provision for families facing eviction.

Sinn Féin TD for Waterford, Deputy David Cullinane said the Government’s failure to tackle the housing and homelessness crisis is being acutely felt by families in Waterford who are being served with notices to quit and left with nowhere to turn.

Commenting on the matter to Waterford News & Star, Deputy Cullinane said: “One of the most effective homelessness prevention measures available to local authorities, the tenant-in-situ scheme, has been undermined by a disastrous decision to massively cut funding."

“I have been speaking directly with senior management in Waterford City and County Council and they have confirmed the scale of the pull-back locally," he said, before going on to comment: "In 2023, the Council acquired 29 homes under the tenant-in-situ scheme. In 2024, that increased to 39 homes. In 2025, it collapsed to just four tenancy sustainment acquisitions. That is an extraordinary reduction at a time when notices to quit are rising and renters are being pushed to the brink."

"The tenant-in-situ scheme was working," he said.

"It prevented families from being made homeless by allowing the local authority to purchase a home where a tenant faced eviction, keeping people in their communities and keeping children in their schools," he added.

“Cutting this support has real-world consequences. It means families served with a notice to quit are being left high and dry in an overheated rental market with record rents and too few homes available."

Deputy Cullinane said frustration is growing locally that the 2026 allocation has still not been announced. 

"Waterford City and County Council cannot plan or act at speed without clarity from Government," he said.

"Delays and uncertainty cost time, and time is exactly what families facing eviction do not have," he added.

He said he's working with his party colleague, Cllr Joanne Bailey - who has raised the issue at Council level - and said the two of them are calling on the Government to restore and significantly increase tenant-in-situ funding so that Waterford Council can intervene before more households fall into homelessness.

“I will be raising this directly with the Taoiseach today in the Dáil," Deputy Cullinane said on Tuesday.

"The Government must reverse these cuts, confirm the 2026 allocation without delay and ensure Waterford has the resources it needs to keep families in their homes," he added.