The Commissioner for Older People for Northern Ireland, Siobhan Casey, has welcomed the Executive’s agreement of a support package for households reliant on home heating oil, particularly for the many older people who have been under significant financial pressure due to recent price increases.
However, she cautioned that the level of support announced is unlikely to address the scale of need. The Commissioner said: “With almost a quarter of households already in fuel poverty and many older people living on fixed incomes, this will only go some way towards supporting those who are severely impacted by the price hikes. In Northern Ireland, 58% of pensioner households have an income below £500 per week after housing costs, compared to only 26% of working age household.[1]
“So while this measure may provide some short-term relief, particularly as we are coming into the summer months, it must be accompanied by longer-term, systemic action to address the root cause of fuel poverty, not one-off measures, to ensure that older people can live in warm homes throughout the year.”
[1] Data obtained from the Family Resources Survey through the UK Data Service. Household Dataset, Northern Ireland, Household total, Gross Income from all sources (in bands with 100 widths) in latest prices (weekly, CPI adjusted real terms), by Type of adult of the head of the household (Working Age or Pensioner).
