Early indications show that the percentage of fuel-poor households has hit its highest figure since 2001.

Jennifer Pleavin, spokesperson for Help the Aged in Northern Ireland, says: ‘This is a cause for great concern, further exacerbated by the Programme for Government’s failure to provide adequate funding to support its own schemes set up to tackle fuel poverty.

'We wonder how the Government plans to meet its objective of eradicating fuel poverty by 2010'

‘Help the Aged in Northern Ireland has long been campaigning for improved measures to tackle fuel poverty. Given the lack of funds made available in the budget accompanying the Programme for Government, we wonder how the Government plans to meet its objective of eradicating fuel poverty by 2010.’

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(1) Source: Tackling Fuel Poverty: The Northern Ireland Fuel Poverty Advisory Group’s First Annual Report