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Home arrow News arrow Local News arrow City councillor’s dismay at Govt’s rejection of fuel payment idea
City councillor’s dismay at Govt’s rejection of fuel payment idea E-mail
Written by Rachael Finucane   
Wednesday, 03 February 2010
A CITY councillor has expressed disappointment at Government’s rejection of his call for a special fuel payment in the wake of the recent freezing weather conditions. Sinn Féin councillor, Maurice Quinlivan, and other party members felt that extra fuel allowance should have been allocated to cover costs but the suggestion was rejected by Social and Family Affairs Minister, Mary Hanafin. In a letter to Sinn Féin Dáil leader and Health & Children spokesperson, Caoimhghín Ó`Caoláin, Minister Hanafin directs people in need to the Community Welfare Service. She stated that a supplementary payment to all fuel allowance recipients would not necessarily represent a good targeting of resources. Cllr Quinlivan said: “To assist the least well-off cope I called locally and my party nationally for the Government to make a special emergency payment to all fuel allowance recipients. Many of the least well-off families and individuals in Limerick have already spent a large part of their small incomes in attempting to keep their homes heated during the January freeze.” He added that “by now, in many cases, many people have their entire winter budget for fuel exhausted”. “They need assistance to continue to heat their homes. Directing people to the Community Welfare Service is not an adequate response. The Community Welfare system is daunting for most applicants and demeaning for some, with people feeling that they are begging for assistance,” he said. “Surveys have shown that almost 10% of households in this State experience fuel poverty. Given the unjust and unnecessary social welfare cuts in Budget 2010, and the withholding of the 2009 Christmas bonus, the very least that the Government should do is take exceptional measures to assist people in the least well off households during this severe winter.”

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