handicapped persons between the ages of 18 and 65. Dwellers of "Fokushouses" receive special assistance called ADL (activities of daily life), intended to contribute to the maintenance, recovery or promotion of the beneficiary's fitness for work, to provide for medical or surgical facilities as well as other measures destined to improve the beneficiary's living conditions. 2.2 By letter of 7 February 1983, the Joint Medical Service (Gemeenschappelijke Medische Diensten, GMD) informed the Ministry of Housing that it would render a negative advice on ADL assistance with respect to a number of persons including the author, who had just become 65 years of age. This position was confirmed by letter dated 24 February 1983 from the Ministry of Welfare and Health to the GMD. Thus, although he was permitted to move into a "Fokushouse", he was denied the ADL assistance granted to other persons who moved into the Fokushouse prior to their 65th birthday. 2.3 As to the requirement of exhaustion of domestic remedies, the author affirms that available means of redress have either been or would be ineffective. He acknowledges that since ADL assistance is provided pursuant to Section 57 of the AAW, remedies must in principle be pursued in compliance with the regulations of the AAW, that is by appeal to the Board of Appeal (Raad van Beroep) and the Central Board of Appeals (Centrale Raad van Beroep). He adds, however, that this procedure was not followed in his case because the GMD had informed the Ministry of Housing that it would render a negative advice on ADL. This position was confirmed by letter from the Ministry of Welfare and Health to the GMD, reaffirming that persons aged 65 and above cannot be granted ADL assistance if they move into purpose-built housing. This means, the author contends, that because the regulations under the AAW provide for an age limit of 65 years, persons aged 65 and above who request assistance pursuant to the AAW would be faced with a negative decision. The State party's practice on eligibility for accommodation in purpose-built housing has not changed since the amendments to the Financial Aid Scheme for the Accommodation of the Disabled, according to the author, as shown, by a letter dated 19 February 1990 from the Secretary of State for Social Affairs to the municipality of Veendam, reaffirming the position that individuals older than 65 were not eligible for ADL assistance. Moreover, during parliamentary debates in the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament towards the end of 1989, the Secretary of State is said to have promised that a decision on whether ADL assistance could be made available for handicapped persons older than 65 years would be made before 1 January 1992. Thus, at present this possibility does not exist. 2.4 On the basis of these considerations, the author also applied for assistance pursuant to another scheme, the General Assistance Act (ABW), because the ABW does not stipulate an age limit for applicants and because the procedure under the ABW operates as a form of "last resort" wherever other regulations do not provide for assistance. When the municipality of Rotterdam, on 15 February 1983, rejected his ABW application, the author, on 22 February 1983, requested the local (city) government to intercede with the municipal authorities. His request was rejected on 13 September 1983. On 11 October 1983, he filed an appeal with the Executive Council of the Province of South-Holland (College van Gedeputeerde Staten van de Provincie Zuid-Holland), which was dismissed on 20 March 1985. His subsequent appeal to the Council of State (Raad van State), filed on 12 April 1985, was dismissed on 28 April 1985. The complaint 3. The author claims that the refusal to grant him ADL assistance constitutes discrimination on account of his age. He points out that for those individuals who move into "cluster dwellings" before they have reached the age of 65 and whose expenses are reimbursed on the basis of the AAW, ADL assistance continues after the age of 65. If an individual moves into purpose-built housing after the age of 65, as he did, or if he reaches the top of the waiting list after the age of 65, that person is excluded, because of his age, from reimbursement on the basis of the AAW. The author is of the opinion that this differentiation between handicapped persons because of their age is unreasonable and not based on objective criteria and thus constitutes discrimination, prohibited under article 26 of the Covenant. 85