SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan has hit out at the Executive’s repeated failures to address rising fuel poverty.
Mr Durkan criticised a delayed winter fuel support scheme for pensioner households excluded from the Winter Fuel Payment, which won’t be paid until March 2025.
Speaking following a statement from the Minister for Communities to the Assembly, the Foyle MLA said: “While any financial support is welcome, I am deeply concerned that this payment will arrive too late for many pensioners.
“At this stage, we’re talking spring fuel support rather than winter.
“It’s particularly galling that this week, with wintry weather and cold spells on the horizon, that our elderly and arguably most vulnerable cohort, is being told they could be waiting four months before support is available.
“The Minister said he recognised the need to get this money paid out as quickly as possible but that contradicts what we’ve been told today.
“It’s taken two and a half months for him to announce a one-off hardship payment which at £100 falls far short of what pensioners would have received under the traditional Winter Fuel Payment.
“People are essentially waiting longer to be paid less. We also cannot forget the fact that the Minister chose to follow Westminster in implementing cuts to winter fuel in the first place.
“The SDLP opposed these cuts at Westminster and in the Assembly.
“Today’s announcement of a one-off payment fails to address the long-term needs of those excluded from the Winter Fuel Payment.
“While Minister Lyons points fingers elsewhere, the reality is that successive Communities Ministers and his Executive colleagues have consistently neglected to tackle deepening fuel poverty.
“This is not just about a single payment but rather the absence of a comprehensive plan to support struggling households being plunged further into poverty.
“The absence of an Anti-Poverty Strategy and the lack of effective measures to combat poverty highlight a worrying disregard for those struggling to make ends meet.
“This strategy has been presented as a panacea but we’ve waited over 20 years to see it enacted.
“The Minister and the Executive need to take responsibility for the decisions they make, decisions, which I fear, will leave many out in the cold this winter.”
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