A £100 fuel support payment for pensioner households in Northern Ireland will be paid out from March 21.
The one-off payment was announced by Communities Minister Gordon Lyons for those who previously received the winter fuel payment but are now no longer eligible.
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Mr Lyons said he had secured £17 million of Executive funding to deliver the payments after changes announced by the UK Government to winter fuel payment eligibility.
He said the money will be paid automatically into individuals’ accounts from Friday March 21 with no need for application.
The minister said: “Following the unexpected and unwelcome news last July that 180,000 pensioner households in Northern Ireland would no longer be eligible for the winter fuel payment, I moved to secure Executive funding to mitigate the impact of the decision.
“Having tasked my officials to prepare the legislative and operational groundwork to enable this payment to be made as quickly as possible, I can announce that the money will be in people’s accounts ahead of the expected end-of-March date and will begin arriving from Friday March 21.
“Whilst I realise the payment will not fully cover the impact of changes to the winter fuel payment, I hope it will go some way to supporting those affected.”
An estimated 250,000 pensioners, in approximately 180,000 households will receive the automatic payment.
Mr Lyons added: “I have stated my determination to ensure that those who are most in need are supported.
“The Pension Age Fuel Support payment is testament to that commitment.”
Pensioners must have been born before September 23 1958 in the qualifying week (Monday September 16 to Sunday September 22 2024) to be eligible for the one-off £100 payment.
If there are more than two eligible claimants in the same household, they will each receive a £50 payment.
Last year, the Government said winter fuel payments would be means tested and go only to pensioners on certain benefits.
While Mr Lyons criticised the decision, he had said that Northern Ireland had no option other than to follow suit so as not to break parity with the rest of the UK over social security payments.
DUP MP Carla Lockhart said the Government had ‘turned its back’ on pensioners (Oliver McVeigh/PA)
DUP MP Carla Lockhart said Mr Lyons had stepped in after the Labour Government “turned its back” on older people.
She said: “Labour’s decision to withdraw the winter fuel payment from pensioners across the UK was cruel and unjustified.
“It will not be quickly forgotten that instead of looking towards the many other potential areas for savings, virtually the first port of call for the Government was to cut funding that helps older people heat their homes.”