Winter fuel payment should be restored for NI pensioners
Stormont's Communities Minister Gordon Lyons has said he will be recommending that pensioners in Northern Ireland have their winter fuel payment restored following a U-turn by the UK Government.
Mr Lyons said the details of Chancellor Rachel Reeves' decision were still to be worked out, but added that the 'most simple and straightforward' approach seemed to be to replicate the same approach in Northern Ireland.
Around 250,000 pensioners in the region were affected when the payment was cut last year in a cost-saving measure by the new Labour government.
On Monday, the Chancellor announced she had changed course and some nine million pensioners in England and Wales will receive the winter fuel payment this winter.
The payment, worth up to £300, will be restored to the vast majority of pensioners who previously received it because anyone with an income of under £35,000 a year will now get the payment automatically.
Mr Lyons told the Northern Ireland Assembly that 'more clarity is needed' on how pensioners affected by previous winter fuel payment cuts will have the benefit reinstated.
Speaking to the media, Mr Lyons said it was 'good news' that the Government had listened to concerns over its policy.
He said: 'It is right that they have had a think again on this. There were many people right on the borderline of pension credit who were in need and weren't getting the support that they should have got.
'I am glad the Government has made a U-turn in relation to this.
'What we now need to do is to work out what is coming next and how that impacts upon Northern Ireland.
'I met with one of the Department for Work and Pensions ministers this afternoon, along with the Finance Minister (John O'Dowd) and officials will continue to work throughout the course of today to nail down some of those details.'
Pressed on whether pensioners in Northern Ireland would definitely have their payment restored, Mr Lyons said: 'That will ultimately be a decision for the Executive, but right now that is certainly what I would be recommending.
'That the money that will be there, that will be available, that we allow what is happening in England and Wales to happen in Northern Ireland as well.
'I think that is going to be the most simple and straightforward way to do it and that is what I want to see happen.'
After the Government withdrew the payment from many pensioners last year, Mr Lyons announced a one-off £100 fuel support payment for pensioner households in Northern Ireland who were no longer eligible.
He said: 'It has been handled very poorly by the Government, I don't think anybody expected a Labour government to attack pensioners in this way.
'My focus was always on those who were in need, those who just about missed out because of where the boundary was for pension credit.
'I met a lot of people who were worried and they were concerned and that is why I was pleased to be able to give a little bit to help those who otherwise would have missed out.
'It was imperfect, it wasn't as quick as I would have liked it to have been.
'Hopefully those who have been most affected will now be helped again and that is a good thing.'
Alliance Party MLA Sian Mulholland said it was important that pensioners in Northern Ireland are not left behind.
She said: 'The Communities Minister has a duty to explore the possibilities associated with bringing in a comparable uplift for those in Northern Ireland who have borne the brunt of previous cuts.'
SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan said: 'This announcement today will be welcome news for many pensioners across the north who struggled to pay their heating bill and keep warm over a difficult winter.
'This cut was a decision that should never have been made in the first place, it is the duty of government to protect the most vulnerable people in our society and the UK Government totally failed in that regard.'
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