Galway city is set to receive €4 million in funding as part of a new €50 million national housing acquisitions programme aimed at moving families and vulnerable individuals out of long-term emergency accommodation.
The announcement was made yesterday by Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, James Browne TD, who said the funding will be targeted at larger families with children and Housing First clients who have been in emergency accommodation for extended periods.
The additional funding will be allocated to eight local authorities with the highest numbers of households in long-term homelessness, with Galway City among those to benefit.
Minister Browne said the programme would prioritise the purchase of four-bedroom properties, which are often unavailable through other housing delivery schemes.
“We are in a housing crisis, and a crisis calls for swift and targeted measures that get to those who are most vulnerable as quick as possible. I want to see children off our homelessness list full stop, but today’s action is about getting children who are in emergency accommodation for an extended period into safe, secure and permanent homes as all children deserve,” he said.
“I am instructing local authorities to specifically target this additional tranche of funding support at family households in emergency accommodation that are being supported to exit emergency accommodation into housing. I want a reduction, on an urgent basis, in the number of families in long-term emergency accommodation.”
Four-bed houses
According to the Department of Housing, the €50 million programme is designed to complement existing measures such as the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP ) and the Tenant-in-Situ scheme. Local authorities will be required to commit the funding to housing purchases that can be completed in 2025, though any unspent allocation will remain available in 2026.
The Minister also confirmed that sufficient resources remain from the original €325 million second-hand acquisitions programme announced earlier this year, which Government say is expected to deliver around 850 homes nationwide in 2025.
In Galway, where homelessness figures have remained stubbornly high, campaigners have repeatedly called for more family-sized social housing. The city recorded some of the highest levels of child homelessness outside of Dublin, with many families living in hotels or other emergency accommodation for over a year.
Housing advocates in the region are likely to welcome the €4 million allocation but say delivery will be key. Four-bedroom homes are in particularly short supply in Galway, where demand for larger social housing units regularly outstrips supply.
Minister Browne said monitoring would ensure the funding is used effectively, with reallocations possible if councils fail to move quickly. “This targeted €50m acquisition programme will complement local authority efforts to exit families from homelessness using other delivery streams and the Housing Assistance Payment. A particular focus will be the acquisition of four-bedroom properties, which have not been available through other delivery streams,” he said.
The Department estimates that the overall acquisitions programme, including the new funding stream, will support hundreds of families across the country in 2025, with Galway’s €4 million share expected to deliver dozens of new homes.
