Derry Against Fuel Poverty protest at Economy Department

Local activists from campaign group Derry Against Fuel Poverty is currently protesting at Department for Economy at Adelaide House in Belfast city centre. Department for Economy is the government department responsible for energy. 

Spokesperson Sinead Quinn said "We've come here today because we're all exasperated by the state of affairs for people like us right now trying desperately to manage what little money we have."

"Last week we saw Electric Ireland announce an increase of 23.9% starting in January. Apart from the fact it actually turns out to be closer to 100% when the reduction in Energy Price Guarantee is taken into account, many of us have just switched to a new supplier or are still in the switching process and cannot keep up with the price changes."

"We need better regulation to protect consumers here in NI. If we were living in Britain, we would have three months breathing space between price changes. This would go a small way to reducing stress and overwhelm for people during this crisis and allow us to better support everyone going through it."

"Our own government didn't do anything about this when we did have a functioning Executive, when we had a half-functional Executive and still hasn't done it with the Secretary of State at the helm. The reason we're here today is to highlight things that can be done with very little cost to make our lives easier and cheaper during this horrific time."

"If we can come up with these suggestions, surely 90 MLAs and high paid civil servants could do the same. There is no acceptable reason for the most vulnerable people in this region being left at the whim of these companies without government and regulatory protection. We call on the Secretary of State, Chris Heaton-Harris, to fix the issues with our energy sector immediately to ensure consumers are given as much protection as the energy suppliers."