£100 home heating oil pre-paid cards for eligible households in Northern Ireland
Over 300,000 households across the north will be eligible to receive £100 towards soaring home heating oil costs, with roll out of the scheme expected to commence ‘soon’.
Communities Minister Gordon Lyons welcomed the securing of Executive agreement for a £36.4million support package for home heating oil users in Northern Ireland.
Eligible households will be asked to apply for a £100 prepaid card that can be used at heating oil suppliers.
The price of home heating oil here and elsewhere has doubled since the US and Israel began its war on Iran, which resulted in the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz – a key global shipping lane for the transportation of oil.
The cost of 500 litres of home heating oil in Derry has now reached around £600, while across the border the same amount of oil costs over 800 euro.
Minister Lyons said: “With roughly two thirds of homes in Northern Ireland relying on oil heating, recent price increases of nearly 100% in just a few weeks have been especially punishing here.
“This measure will deliver targeted support to more than 300,000 households to help hard-pressed working families and vulnerable people struggling to meet essential heating oil costs.”
Eligible groups identified as most vulnerable to increased heating oil costs include: Households in receipt of income-related means tested benefits, namely Pension Credit, Universal Credit and Income Related Employment and Support Allowance; Households in receipt of Disability benefits; Pensioner households not in receipt of Pension Credit with income below £30,000; and Households on incomes below £30,000 and not in receipt of income related benefits.
The Executive has agreed £36.4million for the Department for Communities to support delivery of the scheme. This includes the £17.2million allocated by the UK Government and an additional £19.2million from the Executive.
The Minister continued: “My officials will work at pace to open the scheme and I will announce further details as soon as possible.
“With 24% of households already living in fuel poverty before the recent surge in oil prices, it is clear that the situation has only deteriorated.
“My ambition is to deliver lasting, meaningful support. Alongside this new measure, I will reform my Department’s Discretionary Support Scheme to ensure grant assistance is available to those in need, regardless of the type of home heating they rely on.”