£100 home heating oil grant to be paid out by ‘summer at earliest’

A support scheme to help with rising fuel costs is not expected to be delivered until this summer, the Stormont Communities Minister has said.

Executive ministers agreed £19.2 million funding for the scheme at a meeting on Thursday.

It comes on top of the £17.2 million of support from the UK Government which was announced last month.

Earlier this week a number of protests took place across Northern Ireland against rising fuel costs.

The Stormont scheme will mean 300,000 low-income families will be able to apply for a £100 prepaid card that can be used at home heating oil suppliers.

It is to be open to those receiving “an income-based benefit, a disability benefit or state pension” or with an income under £30,000.

However, Gordon Lyons has revealed it will not be delivered until the summer at earliest.

He told BBC Radio Ulster that it will take “at least three months to get this into place”.

Mr Lyons said the scheme is “not everything that we would like to see done for people in Northern Ireland” and urged the UK Government to do more.

“I fully understand and recognise the huge increases in cost, and this doesn’t go the full way to covering that, but we will do what we can with what we have,” he said.

“But ultimately if we’re really serious about helping people here, we need to see our government at Westminster do what they can with the levers that they have, levers which are not open to us, and do this simply and quickly by cutting fuel duty, by looking at tax and VAT – that is what can bring immediate relief to people.”

Mr Lyons added: “That help that could come from London in terms of our tax would not only help people in households, but also help business as well that is really struggling.

“I want to be really upfront with people in Northern Ireland today in saying, I understand this is not enough, I understand that this will take time but we have limited levers at our disposal but we’re trying our best to get out what we can as soon as we can.”