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Issue no. 283
Best online publication 2014
Friday 3rd April - Thursday 9th April 2015
Older & Wiser Growing old, gracefully or otherwise! Page 41
Tiger, Tiger… Dourga, a female Sumatran tiger at the newly completed Phase One part of the Asian Sanctuary at Fota Wildlife Park, enjoying the mild Spring weather. Fota Wildlife Park continues to expand with Visayan Spotted Deer and Visayan Warty Pigs joining Dourga and Denar, Fota’s two Sumatran Tigers, as part of phase one of the 27–acre Asian Sanctuary development. Picture by Neil Danton.
Social housing boon less than claimed ‘These figures simply don’t add up’ By Eoghan McNeill news@thecorknews.ie
Cork’s much–vaunted social housing boost, lauded by the county’s Fine Gael and Labour TDs upon its announcement this week, may not be as ground–breaking as initially claimed. Nearly 70% of the 1,349 social housing ‘units’ targeted by a €124 million investment in Cork City Council will be accounted for simply by people moving from one rent supplement scheme to another.
“Although a considerable number of units are to be provided by 2017, not all are new buildings,” said Ned Brennan of social housing charity Respond!. “People moving from the old Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) to the new Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) initiative will be covered by that figure,” he told us. According to figures released to this newspaper, 944 people are currently on RAS in the city. “These figures simply don’t add up. Under the terms of
the investment, the government are merely subsidising the private rental sector,” Sinn Féin Councillor Chris O’Leary told The Cork News. Confirming that all of the 944 people on RAS in Cork city will be moved to HAP, Cork City Councillor Thomas Gould concurred with Cllr O’Leary. “This is not real investment in social housing. It’s a manipulation of the figures,” he said.
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Hook Uncorked: Is there a perfect murder? Page 11
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