Ms Anna Drynan-Gale:

I am privileged to have worked in a night nursing role and to have that exceptional ability to observe first-hand families in homes experiencing energy hardship and what that actually looks like in reality. Dr. Denieffe's research findings have now given us empirical evidence of what we have observed over the years, including mould, damp and condensation that all adversely contribute to a person's ill health in a significant way. The patients we look after are patients who have exhausted huge lines of therapy, sometimes they are through their third or fourth line of therapy. They have been ill for a long time. Often, when patients enter the terminal phase, they are quite cachectic and they do not have body mass to support themselves. We already know that they have a much higher energy requirement for heating because they do not have the ability to do that themselves.

As I stated at the launch last week, I have seen first-hand families sit at a beside vigil in their loved ones last moments of life clothed in blankets, duvets, coats, and even hats. It is a significant difficulty for a lot of patients. A lot of families are embarrassed, ashamed or feel stigmatised and they do not feel enabled to reach out to energy providers to help support and care for them. The saddest observation from Dr. Denieffe's study is a family member who questioned whether they did the right thing in bringing a loved one home because the family member could not adequately support the heating requirements of that home.

Moving on to the issue fo energy affordability which is a cornerstone of addressing energy poverty. We see income supplements like the fuel allowance as vital. However, they often fall short of addressing the structural issues of high energy costs. Alongside increasing all social welfare rates toa ddress insufficient incomes, we recommend that consideration be given to redesignign the fuel allowance. For example, a year round tiered payment with elegibility based on BER as well as household income, such as the energy guarantee scheme which has been recommended by Age Action and the MESL Research Centre. We also recommend that support for renewable technology is included in the energy poverty schemes to reduce energy costs such as t