Half of older people forgo essentials to pay for heat

MORE THAN half of older people go without food or clothing to pay for heating in their homes, according to an all-Ireland survey.

The Institute of Public Health report found that almost a quarter of people surveyed described their house as too cold and 62.2 per cent were worried about the cost of heating their home.

However, Minister for Energy Pat Rabbitte, speaking at the publication of the report in Dublin yesterday, disputed the headline figure. He said the claim that half of older people were forgoing essentials to heat their home had been published in a press release but was not in the report. He added that no politician or social worker would believe that it was true.

In fact, the claim is in the summary on page 12 and on page 75 of the report entitled Fuel Poverty, Older People and Cold Weather: an All-island Analysis.

It states 51.1 per cent of older people who were surveyed say they forgo necessities to ensure they do not slip into arrears on their fuel bill.

When this was pointed out to Mr Rabbitte, he stood by his original remarks. The Minister said it was not a representative sample of older people, and conflicted with research carried out by the Central Statistics Office.

The report was compiled from surveys of 722 people, both in Northern Ireland and in the Republic, who use organisations which help elderly people.

It found 12.4 per cent of pensioners in the Republic did not have central heating, a figure which rose to nearly 20 per cent for those over 85. More than 8 per cent used their oven to keep warm during cold weather.

Mr Rabbitte defended the six-week cut in the winter fuel allowance which was announced in the budget. He said the fact it was still being paid for six months was “not at all bad”.

He pointed out a couple on a State pension in the Republic had a combined income of €436.60 a week in comparison with €179.99 in Northern Ireland.

He said the State had spent €2 billion in the last 10 years on subsidised fuel, but only €70 million on making the homes of elderly people more efficient. Because the cost of fuel was a factor outside the control of the State, the key to ensuring that elderly people are kept warm lay in proper retrofitting, he added. To that end the recent initiative “Warmer homes: a strategy for affordable energy in Ireland” had “tremendous possibilities”.

Dr Helen McAvoy, senior policy officer with the Institute of Public Health, which is funded by the Department of Health and its Northern counterpart, said the research showed a strong correlation between ill-health and fuel poverty.