Turning heat on the authorities

Editorial Department • Published 12 Nov 2009 10:09 0 Comments

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ost households have already turned on the heat this winter but for the elderly who are dependent on income support or the Old Age Pension, the situation is worse as they often can't afford the fluctuating prices of oil.

And when the government offers support through their range of winter fuel payments, its widely welcomed by all who receive them.

Except that is by some of our elderly folk who have endured a whole year without the one-off payment of the Household Fuel Payment, paid last year to help the most vulnerable in society. Households due to receive the boost for their energy bills were those on Income Support with Housing Benefit, Housing Loan or on Pension Credit. Unlike most of the other payments, there was no need to claim as the payment was to be automatically paid in the same way as other benefits, usually credited into an account.

However in this week's paper, we highlight the stories of several of our elderly who live in rural Fermanagh. Like many others in their situation, they struggle through the year, worrying about the cost of everything and whether they can afford to even turn on the heat at all.

These vulnerable people in our society would have jumped at the £150 on offer from the Department of Social Development but they never received it. Those in their 70's and 80's have lived through tough times in the past and would make £150 stretch a long way indeed, unlike our young people who could fritter it away on a few nights out.

There's not just the money involved but the principle that some of our elderly folk have been totally ignored by the authorities. Perhaps the heat should be turned on those responsible to making such mistakes.

Let's face it - a few £150 payments over the winter is cheap for the government to support an elderly person in their own home, than to keep them in a residential or nursing home.

As a 79-year-old said, "The coldness I talk about is bad - it could take a couple of hours to warm up, that's how bad it is. It's not a pleasant feeling, let me tell you."

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 12 Nov 09

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