Tag Archives: fuel allowance

An estimated 20,300 people in Clare are suffering from fuel deprivation according to trade union Unite, which has issued a brief report highlighting the prevalence of fuel deprivation on a county-by-county basis. Entitled A Cold Christmas, the document uses the most recent (2014) figures for the EU-SILC heat affordability indicator, which show that over 700,000 people were unable to afford heating at some point during the year,  and adjusts them for county-level income figures to arrive at a county-by-county estimate.  The union also proposes a package of short and medium-term measures to address fuel deprivation. Unite Regional Secretary Jimmy Kelly said, “Fuel deprivation impacts on the personal dignity, health and well-being of those directly affected. It diminishes family life at home and can impact on productivity at work. It also results in an increased demand on health and social services. Fuel deprivation is directly related to the increased rate of death in cold weather – what is known as excess winter mortality. The causes of fuel …

Age Action has urged the Government to take “meaningful steps” in the upcoming Budget to assist older people, who are struggling as a result of the cumulative effect of recent austerity budgets. “Many older people are struggling to heat their homes, pay for their medications and adapt their homes so they can continue to live in them,” Age Action’s head of advocacy and communications, Eamon Timmins said. “The choices which older people are being forced to make – choosing between food, fuel and medication – are simply unacceptable,” he declared when addressing the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection on Wednesday. Mr Timmins outlined the results of research it carried out earlier this year with its members across Ireland to assess the impact which austerity measures were having. “From people going to bed early and staying in bed longer in the morning in order to stay warm, to people cutting back on food, older people revealed how they …