{"id":16010,"date":"2026-04-17T11:43:34","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T11:43:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/16010\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T11:43:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T11:43:34","slug":"northern-ireland-fuel-support-package-who-qualifies-for-the-funding-how-much-you-will-get-and-when-its-paid-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/16010\/","title":{"rendered":"Northern Ireland fuel support package: Who qualifies for the funding, how much you will get and when it\u2019s paid \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Northern Ireland Executive<\/a> has agreed an additional \u00a319.2 million funding to go towards helping low-income households with rising fuel costs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The decision was agreed during a lengthy meeting on Thursday<\/a>, and will bolster the \u00a317.2 million of support pledged by the UK Government which was announced last month.<\/p>\n

But who is eligible for the scheme<\/a>, and how much support will they receive?<\/p>\n

Read more: More fuel price protests take place as tractors slow down traffic<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Northern<\/a>\"Jarlath<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s more info on the deal and what has been said:<\/p>\n

Who will benefit from the scheme?<\/p>\n

The scheme will fund \u00a3100 fuel vouchers for up to 340,000 low-income households in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

How will it work?<\/p>\n

Eligible households will be able to apply for a \u00a3100 prepaid card that can be used at home heating oil suppliers.<\/p>\n

Read more: More Northern Ireland fuel protests planned for later this month as rallies promoted by anti-immigration protesters<\/a><\/p>\n

Who is eligible?<\/p>\n

Announcing details of how the scheme will work, Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said it will be open to those receiving \u201can income-based benefit, a disability benefit or state pension\u201d or households with a combined income of \u00a330,000 or less.<\/p>\n

He said the income threshold is based on the national minimum wage, \u201caligns with that of my department\u2019s discretionary support scheme\u201d and \u201crepresents a fair assessment of where the available funding can be directed\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"FirstFirst Minister Michelle O\u2019Neill, Deputy First Minister Emma Little Pengelly, Communities Minister Gordon Lyons and Finance Minister John O\u2019Dowd at Thursday’s press conference. PICTURE: ARTHUR ALLISON\/PACEMAKER <\/p>\n

Only one voucher will be available per household and will be for oil customers \u201cat this time\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr Lyons said roughly two thirds of households, around 500,000 homes, in Northern Ireland rely on heating oil and recent price increases of \u201cnearly 100%\u201d have been \u201cpunishing\u201d.<\/p>\n

When will eligible households receive the payment?<\/p>\n

No timeframe has been agreed for the scheme, with legislation needing to be passed. Eligibility checks will also have to be carried out before households can receive the money. <\/p>\n

What has been said?<\/p>\n

First Minister Michelle O\u2019Neill said the Northern Ireland Executive wants to meet with British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer about \u201cstark\u201d budgetary issues.<\/p>\n

She said that the budget for Northern Ireland was \u201cat breaking point\u201d and the \u201cpicture that was painted by all ministers today when it comes to delivery of public services is stark\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolitical choices being made in London are creating a really difficult atmosphere for our Executive to be able to work with,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"FirstFirst Minister Michelle O\u2019Neill. PICTURE: ARTHUR ALLISON <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have had invited Hilary Benn, the Secretary of State, along today \u2013 he couldn\u2019t make it (due to) diary arrangements, apparently.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, we as an Executive have today decided that we want to meet with Keir Starmer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe make a direct appeal to the British Prime Minister to meet with us in a cross-party delegation, because the budget realities that we face are so challenging and so dire and so difficult that he needs to listen to the concerns that all of us are expressing on behalf of the people that we collectively serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said: \u201cIt will make a difference, but it will not solve the problem. Our message to the Prime Minister is simple, this cannot wait, people cannot wait.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need a comprehensive package of support, and we need it now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Northern Ireland Executive has agreed an additional \u00a319.2 million funding to go towards helping low-income households with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16011,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[7558,4260,1092,7556,7557,7559,5,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-16010","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"tag-emma-little-pengelly","9":"tag-executive","10":"tag-fuel-prices","11":"tag-fuel-poverty","12":"tag-gordon-lyons","13":"tag-michelle-o-neill","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116419874510081807","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}