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Government plans to give home heating oil customers in the North a one-off payment of £100 to help with rising energy costs are nowhere near what is needed, a West Tyrone MLA has said.
It is understood that the £100 payment will be in addition to a cap on the unit price of electricity announced by the British government yesterday (Wednesday).
But West Tyrone SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan said his party had developed a much more radical plan that would “make a real difference” to the North’s most vulnerable households.
Mr McCrossan said the SDLP proposals would see 1,000 litres of home heating oil provided to domestic consumers across the North, implemented through a self-enrolment voucher scheme in conjunction with oil providers and overseen by the Utility Regulator.
He continued, “The SDLP’s home heating oil scheme is a bold and robust proposal to prevent thousands of families from falling into fuel poverty this winter.
“We are calling on Ministers in Northern Ireland and in London to urgently fund a scheme to provide 1,000 litres of home heating oil to domestic consumers as a matter of the utmost urgency.
“Without immediate intervention, working families and the most vulnerable households will go cold this autumn and winter.
Those particularly vulnerable in winter will be at risk of dying if we don’t act now.
“The SDLP understands the pressure people are under, that’s why we have developed a plan that will make a real difference.”