Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister and also the report of the Ombudsman. I compliment her predecessor. It is good news that there has been a reduction in the cases taken to the Ombudsman. Like other speakers, I am rather concerned, particularly regarding education. There are many issues involved, and there will probably be more to do with special needs, which is a big issue currently, and school transport, which was mentioned by Senator O'Toole. The same is true of the health service, which has been touched on. It is interesting to note that yesterday I was inquiring of the Western Health Board about the number of people on a waiting list for orthodontics, and 868 was the figure provided. They were very proud of the fact that it was fewer than 1,000, since five years ago there were 2,000 people on the board's waiting list for such treatment. That will give Members an idea of the case histories documented so very well in this report.

Like Senator Daly, I find issues regarding planning and its enforcement very important. Every local authority will tell one that it grants 90% of applications, and perhaps more in some cases. However, a serious question about the enforcement of planning has arisen, particularly through the recent "Prime Time" programme, but also on many other occasions. We really need proper staffing of councils on that issue. On local authorities in general, one of the issues which has affected many people — there are many cases mentioned in the report — is the operation of the disabled person's housing grant. It now seems to be the only grant that exists for any house improvements other than schemes for the elderly. It is very popular because it does not require a person to be living alone. If two or three elderly people are living together, there is no investigation of the numbers in the house, which is positive. We see issues regarding tax affairs. In my county of Galway, there was a case where a grant could not possibly meet the provision of a bathroom and bedroom downstairs for a disabled person. The Ombudsman agrees there is no point giving someone a grant of €13,000 towards work that costs €40,000. Where is the balance to come from unless it is decided to go for some type of capital project, as suggested? I would like to see that scheme re-examined in a general way. A few case histories indicate how inadequate it is to try to do work on that scale for a disabled person when the grant does not meet a fraction of the total estimated cost.

Reference is made to the carer's allowance in the report. I remember writing years ago to the then Ombudsman, Mr. Michael Mills, about a person who was providing 24-hour care but was not getting the allowance because he or she was not living in the house all the time. The position now is that someone does not have to be living in the house to provide 24-hour care and that is more sensible and practical. Finally, on the question of heating, as referred to in the Ombudsman's report, in some cases local authorities do not give grants to the disabled, in others, grants of 50% of total costs are provided. This must be examined. Up to 90% of grants are available from the local authorities for most of the works, but to leave people without heating, as happened with Tipperary County Council in one of the cases in the report, is totally wrong. The Ombudsman addressed that properly and I hope all local authorities will provide reasonable grants for heating. Heating is very important, whether for the elderly or the disabled, and hopefully will be provided for in the future.