I warmly welcome the restoration of the Housing Grants for pensioners which had been suspended by Dublin City Council for almost a year now. Fresh applications are being accepted from Monday 5th July. The City Council have now cleared the backlog of applications on the old grant. A budget of over €14m has been set aside to meet the needs of senior citizens applying under the grant. There are three strands to the grant:

• Housing Aid for Older People – a 100% grant in owner-occupied homes, where they are beyond repair, of up to €10,500 for structural repairs to roofs, rewiring, heating, water, sanitary services. The grant no longer covers replacement windows. It covers central heating where there is no system but only boiler replacement where there is an existing heating system.
• Mobility Aids – a 100% grant of up to €6,000 to address mobility problems, certified by a doctor (e.g. rails, ramps, stair-lifts and level access showers) in owned or private rented home.
• Housing Adaptation (Disability) – a 95% grant of up to €30,000 to adapt a home to suit the needs of a person with an enduring disability (e.g. downstairs toilet/showers, wheelchair adaptation, extension, etc.) in owned or private rented homes. The works must be certified necessary by a doctor and may require an Occupational Therapist Report.

The full grants above apply if the gross income of the owner and their spouse is less than €30,000, dropping on a graduated basis to 30% for incomes €54,000–€65,000.

I welcome An Bord Pleanala’s decision to reject Dublin Port’s proposal to infill 52 acres of the bay.

However, it is disappointing that the Board did not accept its own inspector’s view that the infill of 52 acres is in conflict with Government port policy, with the balanced development of the city, and with the need for flood protection. The sole ground for refusal is that the port failed to establish that the development would not damage the natural amenity of the bay. This narrow decision will leave the port hoping it can try again in the future.

The new Special Protection Order covering the entire bay from the Minister does not seem to have carried any weight with the board.

The tremendous work to stop the infill by the Clontarf Residents Association and Dublin Bay Watch has been vindicated by this decision. However the battle to protect the bay is not over.

The city development plan needs to develop a proper policy that accommodates essential port needs without encroachment on the natural amenity of the bay.

HSE Must Not Abandon Autistic Children- Bruton

Children with autism are facing big obstacles to get continuing support at school. The Department of Education fails to ensure that every child has continued support when moving from primary to secondary school.

• St. Joseph’s CBS in Fairview has 17 children in need of support services. Only eight of them have the support services of speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, psychological support and psychiatric service, as one would normally expect. Of the other nine, five are on a waiting list and the others are getting no service, with no prospect of any help this year.
• There are 66 others in the wider catchments in Dublin North-East in the same boat.

This is not good enough. These children are already in the system. There is no question that the Department don’t know about them.

St Joseph’s is in an impossible position: What is to happen if there is an emergency requiring the children to have psychological or psychiatric support? There is none available to them. How is the school supposed to continue to cope with that?

There is a lack of joined-up thinking in the Department of Education and Skills. Children with special needs of this kind must not be abandoned after so much was put into their development. The Department is risking a falling apart of the system for want of continuing support services. Every child has a right to support provided according to his needs.