‘We will freeze without our fire’

ROMANA KENNEALLY is most shocked by the cutting of fuel allowance entitlement from 32 weeks a year to 26 weeks.

The East Cork mother-of-two lives in a council house built in 1939, and from September to April, has an open fire roaring all day long.

If she didn’t, she says, the house at Belmont in Cobh would be ice-cold.

It was so cold last winter that one night, she and the kids, aged 6 and 11, hopped into the one bed, with three duvets over them and an electric heater nearby. Often she wakes up in the middle of the night to add coal to the fire to keep the overall temperature of the house up.

Her partner, Chris Scriven, is a seasonal gardener but only works part-time now. His work has dried up hugely as middle-class families increasingly feel the squeeze.

Every week and a half, she says, she pays €41 for two bags of coal and the fuel allowance cuts that bill substantially.

A fuel allowance of €20 is paid every week to people on social welfare. Romana is receiving a back-to-school allowance as she is completing a childcare course at Carrignafoy Community Centre. The family do not own a car.

“I’m delighted that my child benefit won’t be cut but I shocked at how my fuel costs are going to rise. Another thing that will really affect me is the cuts to the back-to-school allowance. This will drop from €50 to €150 for each child. For crying out load, that didn’t cover the cost of uniforms and books at it was,” she said.

“Also, I can’t help but think of the people on my course who will be hit by the €25 fee if your child attends a community creche. That’s €100 a month, they won’t be able to afford that.

“To be honest, I didn’t see this fuel allowance cut coming. I was dreading the thought of carbon taxes and you know that could still happen tomorrow.”