DUBLIN WAS hit by flooding again last night, as the capital's fire brigade responded to hundreds of calls for help from swamped citizens.
Homes in the north of the city were among the main casualties of the persistent heavy rain in the east, as the capital was drenched for a second time in three days.
Dublin Fire Brigade responded to as many as 200 calls by 9.30pm.
Early signs were that the damage was not as bad as that caused by Saturday's downpour, but suburbs in north Dublin were severely affected. These include Blanchardstown, Finglas, Glasnevin, Drumcondra, Marino, Whitehall, Ballymun and Clontarf.
A number of elderly women were rescued from a complex in Finglas, and residents in Ballyfermot also contacted emergency services for help.
The council said it would repair its own housing stock affected by the rain but would not be liable for furnishings destroyed by floods. Private householders and council tenants seeking redress for damaged furniture should check their insurance policies, a spokeswoman said.
A number of apartment dwellers in affected areas had concerns about manhole covers and the threat of sewage coming into their home. Other manholes had come open in some parts of the city, causing traffic delays, and parts of the M50 were under water.
The N3 at Blanchardstown was closed in both directions due to flooding, and a number of people rang from their cars elsewhere in the capital saying they were trapped in water.
Small parts of the city centre in Dublin were flooded, and driving was difficult on many roads in the county. There were also reports that premises in Navan and Dunboyne had been flooded.
By contrast, the west and south of the country appeared to have suffered little yesterday.
Two calls were made to emergency services in Munster, and there were calls from residents in the Hillview estate in Waterford city.
The Met Office forecasts "no real improvement" in weather conditions over the coming days and predicts "a return to heavy rain" for the weekend, prompting advice to householders to check their insurance policies.
Some householders who meet means-tested criteria may qualify for special payments from the Department of Social and Family Affairs or the Health Service Executive. Dublin City Council, which dealt with severe flooding in parts of the north and west of the city last weekend, said it had no compensation scheme in place. The council said a decision on any humanitarian aid would be a matter for the Government.
Following the last severe flooding in the city council area, when the Dodder overflowed in Ringsend in 2002, the government instituted a humanitarian aid package.
A Government spokesman said yesterday any decision on a special aid package would have to await the next Cabinet meeting, which was not scheduled "for a few weeks". The spokesman said the situation "was being monitored".
Emergency assistance can, however, be provided by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive (HSE), which may make a single payment to meet an exceptional need, but only to people on social welfare or HSE payments. These payments are known as exceptional needs payments under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. They are paid at the discretion of the executive in individual cases.
People who would not normally qualify for these payments may get help from another scheme run by the community welfare division, the urgent needs payment. Consideration is given to whether such people have access to commercial credit or insurance cover. The legislation provides that a payment may be recovered in whole or in part where it is made to a person in full-time employment.