Northern Ireland’s Commissioner for Older People has warned that delays in getting Government energy payments to people here is putting “more lives at risk”.
Eddie Lynch spoke out amid continuing delays in getting the £600 into people’s pockets as temperatures plummet and home heating bills remain at record highs.
The ‘independent champion for older people’ said statistics from previous years point to an increase in deaths among older people during winter - but added that was when gas and home heating oil costs were substantially lower.
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Also yesterday, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said efforts are being made to ensure energy support payments are sent out to people in Northern Ireland “as soon as possible”.
“It will happen this winter,” he told reporters in Belfast.
Mr Heaton-Harris dismissed allegations that delays are being used in order to put pressure on Northern Ireland’s powersharing institutions to be restored, and said the payments would be issued “hopefully as soon as possible”.
“With the greatest respect for those who say it’s the British Government’s fault, we did try to work with ministers at the time, because we don’t have, as the UK Government, the appropriate relationships to get the money out.
“Covid payments were made through Invest NI, for example, so we are now having to build a new relationship and it’s a huge amount of taxpayers’ money that is going to come out, but it will come out this winter.”
However, as no specific timeframe has yet been outlined, Eddie Lynch warned of dangerous consequences.
The Commissioner said: “It is deeply concerning that there is still no clarity as to when energy payments will be made in Northern Ireland. This is devastating to many older people who are already struggling this winter.
“This delay in payments will prevent many older people from heating their homes during this colder spell and living in a cold environment can directly impact health. The World Health Organization recommends warming homes to a minimum of 18oC, and possibly more for older people and those with chronic conditions.
“According to the Institute of Public Health, for many older people the challenges of keeping warm go beyond the immediate worry of staying comfortably warm or paying the next heating bill - cold homes can pose a grave threat to health.
“This could potentially increase this winter due to the fact some older people simply cannot afford to put on the heat and stay warm in their homes. Every day that goes by waiting on this payment puts more lives at risk.”
A Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency report from last year that compiled ‘Excess Winter Mortality’ figures recorded 6,340 deaths in the four months of winter - December to March. The Agency said that comparing this figure to the two four-month periods either side of winter, “the seasonal increase in mortality in winter 2020/21 was an estimated 1,120”.
They added: “By removing all deaths where Covid-19 was the underlying cause of death from the analysis and re-calculating EWM for 2020/21, the excess winter mortality reduced to 200.”
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