Politicians urged to stop point scoring over responsibility for £17m heating oil support package

Politicians have been urged to stop point scoring over who is responsible for distributing a package of help for home heating oil customers after the Prime Minister announced £17million of funding for the Executive.

Finance Minister John O’Dowd asked Communities Minister Gordon Lyons to come up with proposals.

However, Mr Lyons has accused Sinn Féin of "shirking their responsibilities" saying energy policy falls within the remit of Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald.

On Monday, the Prime Minister announced a £17million support package to support households struggling with the rising cost of home heating oil, with the Executive to decide how the money was allocated. DUP Leader Gavin Robinson made it clear who he thought needed to step up. “That's why I'm indicating not only a willingness to work with the Economy Minister, but a requirement for her to sharpen her pencil and get going with discussions about how best this Executive can target resource effectively to support those who need it most", he said. Finance Minister John O’Dowd, who controls Northern Ireland's budgets, said he believed it was up to another Minister formulate a plan. "I'll be writing to my colleague, the Minister for Communities Gordon Lyons, asking him to bring forward proposals in relation to how this funding should be best used in the time ahead and asking for proposals to be brought forward which allow this money to be spent quickly", he said.Communities Minister Gordon Lyons hit back. "“In my view, this is an issue for the Department for the Economy. They have the lead on energy policy. “When I was in that post in 2022, I made sure that we got that support in place - £600 for every household. “Unfortunately, it seems that Sinn Féin are shirking their responsibilities saying this is too difficult for us, so we're going to pass this on to somebody else instead. “What we should be doing is working together", he told reporters in Washington on Monday night.The Secretary of State has suggested that an £81million discount to electricity bills and additional money in the budget could be repurposed for wider support. “If the Executive adds them all together and chooses to apply those sums of money to help in particular people on low incomes who are dependent on heating oil then the sums of money being given to families would be much bigger than that but it depends on the choice that the Executive makes,” he said. Those seeking help feel they are caught in the middle. "If they were going to give it out, Stormont would be better shutting their mouth about fighting with other parties and get it out to the people instead of arguing all the time trying to score points against one another.“Get out the money. If they have to use the Winter Fuel allowance to send the money out that way if that's the quickest way of getting that out to people.“They need it now when it's cold", one member of the public told UTV.

Around two-thirds of homes in Northern Ireland use home heating oil compared with the UK average of just more than 5%.The exact number of people who will get help is still to be decided.

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