Planning to go on a summer holiday when you have a child with additional needs is not easy. The more complex your child’s needs are the more planning has to go into arranging the family holiday. If at all possible don’t skip a year because the family holiday is so important for everyone. A change […]
Family Home – by Allan
When I am sitting down with parents to carry out their special needs trust plan. One of the areas I discuss with parents is the family home. My initial questions are always on how much they owe on their mortgage and how much per month do they pay. The reason I am so interested in […]
Domiciliary Care Allowance & Automatic Medical Card
It is fantastic news to announce that EVERY child that qualifies for the Domiciliary Care Allowance will now be automatically entitled to a full Medical Card and this right will be enshrined in law. This is a huge relief for so many of our families who have been dealing with the stress of applying and re-applying […]
Bus Strike – by David
Bus Eireann had been on strike for some time and it is really annoying because I go on outings with the NLN Group and they normally use the bus service. The outings are part of the course. The company had some talks over the weeks and over 27 hours of talks had been adjourned without […]
Communions, confirmation and parties – by Dolores
As wonderful, special events can be it can be a very stressful time for the whole family and your child. Unfortunately, these types of events can also bring you into contact with bossy organisers who would just wish you would disappear. I know this is an issue I face a lot with David. There are […]
Buying a Car – by Allan
Buying a car is probably parents’ second most expensive purchase of their life. I am making the assumption that your family home being number 1. Interesting enough the landscape on how we buy cars has dramatically changed over the last number of years. Previously most parents would purchase the car outright and own it from […]
Long Term Illness Card
People with specific diagnoses are entitled to an individual Long Term Illness Card. This has nothing to do with income but is based on your child medical condition. This allows your child to get medicines directly related to the treatment of their illness, free of charge. This prevents your child from ever having to pay […]
Professional Expert Advice – by Dolores
I came across the following slogan a few days ago. “Forgive me, I had no idea you were an expert on raising a child with special needs since you don’t have one. Please, continue while I take notes.” To me during my life raising David, this slogan at times sums up how I felt and […]
Local Property Tax – by Allan
During the recession and subsequent bailout by the troika, the government brought in the Local Property Tax (LPT). The purpose was to widen the net on tax collection. The scheme is operated by the Revenue and is based on a self-assessment of the value of your home and came into effect in 2013. There are […]