£600 energy payment for Northern Ireland rollout begins: A ‘drop in the ocean’ amid cost-of-living crisis, says DUP MP

The lump-sum payment from the government, which includes £400 to help subsidise soaring electricity costs and an additional £200 to help households cope with the steep cost of home heating oil, is due to be paid out between now and the end of March.

For people with direct debits to pay electricity bills, the money should be paid directly into customer’s bank accounts. For keypad customers, a voucher that can be exchanged for cash has been promised.

Upper Bann MP Carla Lockhart welcomed the beginning of the rollout but warned that there may be “glitches” along the way and stressed that the payment alone won’t be enough to see some households through a difficult winter amid surging inflation.

“It has been long awaited and much needed by people,” she said. “Even on Christmas night I had people coming to me with queries around this. To my mind, that is a demonstration of the fact that people have hit the harsh reality and that they are feeling the pressure.

"It is good that it is coming and that it is starting to make its way through the system but I have no doubt that there will be glitches along the way and the UK government need to make it as simple, as quick and as easy as possible.”

She continued: “I have no doubt we will be inundated with queries and concerns by people who haven't got it, and the government need to set up a very good helpline to ensure people get their queries answered. That, I believe, would be one of the most useful exercises given the complexity of the rollout in Northern Ireland.”

On the scale of the support being offered, she said: "People are finding things to be such a squeeze, between the cost of putting fuel in their car, the cost of energy, the cost of groceries – the cost of living. This money now [the £600 payment] is a drop in the ocean when it comes to people’s ongoing cost-of-living burdens.”