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Residents of independent living accommodation in Crossmaglen and Keady have been told they do not qualify for the £100 Home Heating Oil Support Scheme voucher because they live in what is known as sheltered housing. Aontú representative for Slieve Gullion, Liam Reichenberg, has described the situation as outrageous and nonsensical. He has written to Minister Gordon Lyons and the Department for Communities seeking an urgent review of the criteria.
Reichenberg said residents have been “left upset and angered after receiving notice that they don’t qualify."
Residents of Radius accommodation in Corliss Fold, Crossmaglen and Lir Fold, Keady contacted him after notices went up informing them that they were not entitled to the vouchers under the criteria set by Minister Gordon Lyons and the Department for Communities.
He said many of those affected are the people the scheme was designed for. “They were shell-shocked and baffled and that’s totally understandable as many of the residents in Corliss and Lir Folds are the very people this Voucher Scheme was devised to help. They qualify in every way financially and really need this help, but they are being left out and rejected because of where they live.”
The Slieve Gullion representative pointed to the way the buildings are heated and paid for. “They live in self-contained apartments in ‘Independent living accommodation’ and must fend for themselves. They pay the full cost of heating the apartment building including common areas, divided between them, unsubsidised and in full. That the buildings have a single oil tank seems to disqualify them too, yet how else would such buildings operate?” asks Mr Reichenberg.
He said he has seen the separate charges residents have to pay. “I have seen the separate charges residents have to pay and heating is no cheaper for them than it is for the rest of us. A £100 voucher might not seem like much to some, but for someone trying to make a limited income or a pension stretch to cover their bills, it can make a real difference. With winter approaching and Christmas around the corner, the last thing residents need is to be worrying about whether they can afford to keep their homes warm”.
At the launch of the scheme in early September, Minister Lyons said: “The digital pre-paid card will go some way to meeting the challenge of rising fuel costs and will benefit those who need it most as we head into the colder months.”
Mr Reichenberg is now challenging the Minister and the Department for Communities to look again at the criteria as a matter of urgency. “This is a blatant injustice and one we in Aontú are going to do all we can to overturn. I have written to the minister and department seeking an urgent review of the criteria to correct what I believe to be a serious mistake. It is my understanding that it is entirely possible to correct this if the good will is there.”
