Fundamental needs - Living below the fuel poverty line

Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Two reports out yesterday illustrate how hard life has become in Ireland for elderly people and for thousands of people struggling to survive below the minimum UN definition of a basic standard of living.

A HSE study makes it clear that if the icy weather gripping Europe swept across Ireland, the toll on elderly people could be disastrous. That’s the inescapable conclusion to be drawn from the report showing that higher fuel prices, coupled with cuts in allowances, could increase the number of avoidable deaths among the elderly during winter months.

Meanwhile, a TCD report emphasises that the income of most families who depend on Jobseeker’s Benefit is inadequate for a basic standard of living. Based on UN principles of what constitute a person’s physical, psychological, spiritual and social needs, it also concludes that poverty and social exclusion will continue in Ireland as long as the minimum wage and social welfare payments are not linked.

Invariably, the question of fuel poverty comes up for discussion if oil prices go through the roof or when the country freezes. But what the onset of winter means to many elderly people was spelled out yesterday at a conference in Dublin, where delegates heard that more Irish pensioners die from the cold every year than their counterparts in Norway.

While much work has been done to improve housing and insulation standards, even with grant aid the cost was beyond the reach of many older people. Just when they should be enjoying the basic comforts of a well heated house, some live in fear of the winter months.

Undoubtedly, their plight has been made worse by Government cuts to fuel allowances. Since coming to power, the Fine Gael-Labour coalition has abolished the smokeless fuel allowance and, continuing its one-track policy of cutbacks. in Budget 2012 it reduced the heating allowance period by six weeks.

Delegates at the fuel poverty conference also heard a dire warning that the budget cut has inevitably put lives at risk. Since the fuel allowance is means-tested, it is specifically aimed at helping the poor, a category that now includes a growing number of senior citizens.

At a time when energy costs are rising, cutting the allowance has effectively increased the high rate of fuel poverty in Ireland. This harsh cutback flies in the face of Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s pledge to make Ireland a place where older people could live out their years with dignity.

So far, thankfully, the winter has been mild here compared with the rest of Europe. But with colder weather predicted by the Met Office, the option staring many a senior citizen in the face will be whether to heat their home or put food on the table. A stark choice indeed.

This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Tuesday, February 07, 2012