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Minister to propose £100 oil payment for lower income households
The scheme would give about 340,000 low-income households a £100 prepaid card as Stormont says current funding is insufficient.
- On Thursday, Democratic Unionist Party Communities Minister Gordon Lyons presented a £17m home heating oil support plan to the Stormont executive, proposing £100 payments for approximately 340,000 low-income households.
- Public demonstrations in Omagh over rising energy bills prompted urgent government attention as global fuel prices spiked, with 900 litres of oil costing £1016.77—nearly double the February price.
- While Westminster calls its £380m package a "record settlement," Lyons argues the £17m contribution is "insufficient" and seeks additional funding from the executive to meet local needs.
- Implementation would take "a couple to three months" if approved, while the executive remains "stretched to breaking point" facing "difficult" fiscal choices on its multi-year budget.
- Stormont continues navigating complex budget planning for 2026-27 and 2027-28, with the May 2027 assembly election complicating negotiations over revenue-raising measures officials deemed "unavoidable.
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£100 home heating oil grant to be paid out by ‘summer at earliest’
Communities Minister Gordon Lyons has urged the UK Government to act with measures that can be delivered rapidly to help those struggling with costs. A support scheme to help with rising fuel costs is not expected to be delivered until this summer, the Stormont Communities Minister has said. Executive ministers agreed £19.2 million funding for the scheme at a meeting on Thursday. It comes on top of the £17.2 million of support from the UK Govern…
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Total News Sources11
Leaning Left3Leaning Right0Center4Last UpdatedBias Distribution57% Center
Bias Distribution
- 57% of the sources are Center
57% Center
L 43%
C 57%
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