I have constantly raised the issue of side-by-side rebuilding under the defective concrete scheme through amendments, a motion in the House and parliamentary questions. This is happening in people's homes right now. For many families, side-by-side building is the only workable way to rebuild while staying within their communities in Donegal. The Government has indicated that it will be available in certain, limited circumstances but those circumstances are not clear and the provision is not yet operational. Families still do not know how it will apply to them and the uncertainty is causing real difficulty in planning and rebuilding for families to actually move forward. I am dealing with families directly and speaking to them every single day and their cases are coming through my office, where people are trying to understand how they are meant to proceed. There is a significant number of people affected and they are older homeowners and disabled homeowners. Side-by-side building is a way for them to move forward. There are consequences for the delays being put in place at the moment for the rebuilds to move forward because it is time-sensitive. It would also avoid moving disabled and older people out of their communities when they can build side-by-side if they have the land next to each other and can proceed. Families remain on site, there are no rental payments and there are no storage costs. Everything is there and it is fiscally responsible. It allows them to move on. I am dealing with a family in Carrowkeel who have a child who is severely disabled. They are currently dealing with electrical issues with their house because it is structurally unsound and is moving. That child, who will be 18 next week, is on an air mattress and when it goes down she is prone to ulcers and back sores. Her framework cannot be bolted to the house because the house is not suitable, so the family is waiting to go. They are in their house but the house they are waiting to build is out in the garden. We are waiting for approval but we need approval and we need answers. When will this scheme commence and when will homeowners who have the space and capacity to carry out side-by-side rebuilding be able to do so under the scheme? Will it set out clearly when this will be operational?

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Yes.

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With respect, there have been 300 homes built in the past five years. There are 3,000 people currently trying to go through the scheme who are stuck in the scheme. Families are waiting for the basics. Side-by-side building is where you go onto an acre of land that could have a house on one side that is defective and a house on the other, and then pull it down and keep the family in this house until the other house is rebuilt, and then pull the defective house it down and move them over. That is what we are waiting for. That is what people are waiting for if the capacity is there to do it. The family I am talking about in Carrowkeel have a child with a severe disability who has basically been waiting to move for three years on the scheme and cannot get side-by-side building. There is a reality going on here that this scheme is only at 2% capacity. When it starts to move and to crank up, we acknowledge the money is being spent, but only 300 homes have been built. There are 3,000 people caught in this scheme and thousands more are currently waiting. My colleagues in Donegal are all dealing with this and we know what is going on on the ground.

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I agree with you that we do but we need to-----

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I am one of them.

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