ANY endeavours to protect and support the most vulnerable in our society are to be welcomed.
Communities Minister Gordon Lyons announced on Wednesday that he was introducing a new one-off payment to pensioner households which lost out as a result of the British government withdrawing the winter fuel payment.
The minister said those older people who no longer qualify for the annual sum following Labour chancellor Rachel Reeves’ swinging of the axe will receive £100.
It’s positive news that they have some financial support coming and credit where it’s due but it’s not enough and they will be waiting too long to get it.
It’s worth remembering that pensioners had been expecting £300, not just this winter but every winter. With inflation, they could fairly have anticipated that nudging upwards in line with heating costs.
The commissioner for older people for Northern Ireland, Eddie Lynch, addressed the fact even £100 left a shortfall in what was being relied upon, emphasising that “people will struggle this winter”.
AGE NI director, Paschal McKeown, said the charity is “deeply disappointed that the amount allocated may fall short of what older people really need to stay warm during the long winter days and nights”.
Those concerns are not only valid, they are stark because staying warm is not a luxury, it’s essential.
Even if the amount being paid was at an acceptable level, the second major concern is the pace at which it is likely to be implemented.
Mr Lyons, when making his announcement, insisted his officials “are now working at pace to prepare and bring forward the necessary legislation and to finalise arrangement”.
While that is no doubt true, the fact that his expectation that those eligible can expect to receive the money “by March 2025” is an extremely disappointing timescale.
We’re almost two months on from Ms Reeves’ budget announcement when the cut in the winter fuel payment was confirmed. It had been mooted for some weeks before that.
Why, then, did it take this length of time for a £100 payment to be agreed, signed-off and announced?
Just this week we have seen – and felt – a noticeable dip in temperatures, marking the start of the particularly cold weather which so greatly impacts upon so many.
The bottom line is struggling pensioners need help to keep themselves and their homes warm now – not in four months’ time when common sense and statistics tell us the weather will have improved.
All of our politicians should be doing everything they can to press the Labour government into reinstating the crucial full winter fuel payment for pensioners.
