News Story

More than 50,000 applications have been made in the first 24 hours of a home heating oil support scheme.

However, a Stormont committee heard concerns that the £100 oil vouchers are being used by some customers to buy coal.

Communities Minister Gordon Lyons launched the £36.4 million scheme last month in response to concerns over rising home heating oil costs in Northern Ireland.

The £100 voucher is available to an estimated 340,000 eligible households where applicants use oil as their main source of heating and receive a qualifying income-related benefit, or a disability benefit, or have an annual income of less than £30,000.

In Northern Ireland, almost two-thirds of domestic properties use home heating oil.

The scheme opened for applications on Wednesday.

Department official Cherrie Arnold told the Communities Committee that work had continued “at pace to finalise the operational and digital arrangements” required to deliver the scheme.

She said: “The scheme will provide a £100 home heating oil support payment delivered through a digital prepaid card to eligible households.”

Ms Arnold added: “The department’s focus remains on delivering a scheme that is fair, accessible, targeted at households most affected by home heating oil costs.

“I am pleased to confirm that applications opened yesterday, the 9th of September, and will remain open to the 31st of March.

“Between 6am and 4pm yesterday, we had taken over 1,300 calls.

“Between 8am yesterday and 9am this morning, 51,000 applications had been successfully made.”

Committee chairman Colm Gildernew said the scheme had got off to a “flying start”.

He said: “That’s good work, and also I suppose an indication of the pressure that’s out there with people.”

Mr Gildernew asked how long applicants had before the £100 card expired.

Ms Arnold said: “A recipient will apply and they get an activation link.

“They have three months to activate their digital card.

“Once they’ve activated their digital card, they have to the end of the following month to use the card.”

Alliance Party MLA Kellie Armstrong said “problems” had started to appear.

She said: “I’m aware of some constituents who are going to the oil company who are coal users, and the oil company saying, ‘aye, go on ahead, give us your voucher, and we’ll use that for your coal instead’.

“How do we report that, and is that permitted?”

Ms Arnold said the scheme was intended specifically for oil.

Ms Armstrong said: “The problem is that the home may have oil, but they don’t use it because they still burn coal.

“Is there any communication out to those oil suppliers just to say, if you do fuel, if you do coal and oil, it’s only oil.

“Are they required then when they’re claiming back their money from yourselves, the £100, to prove on a receipt or something that it’s oil that has been purchased.”

Ms Arnold said: “There may be cases that an oil supplier may supply coal. We have checks in place to ensure that households use oil as their main heating source.

“There’s some information that we may not have if somebody is obviously trying to use it to purchase coal.

“It’s not the intended use of the scheme, and communications did go out in advance to oil buyers across the province to ensure that they could get prepared in advance of the scheme opening.”