Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I spoke with a woman last week who told me she dreads the really cold weather because she must sleep on a mattress on the floor in her sitting room with her children on mattresses also or on the sofa because she cannot afford to heat the house. She lights the fire in the sitting room and spends the really cold nights there. Another mother told me that her children are constantly getting colds and chest infections, and therefore missing time from school, because the house is so cold. People are being forced to choose between essential items as they cannot afford to pay for everything. They are wearing additional layers of clothing during the day and night and going to bed earlier than they need to just to stay warm. All of this has a detrimental effect on their physical and mental health.

The Covid-19 restrictions have a very negative impact on many households for numerous reasons, but they have had a disproportionate impact on certain families such as those of people with disabilities, older people, people with underlying health issues, and families with children. Since March of last year people have been told to stay at home as much as possible and those in the vulnerable categories have been advised to cocoon. This means they are spending more time at home and having to heat their homes on a constant basis. This may not have been a huge issue last spring and in the early summer when the weather was good, but it is certainly an issue since the autumn and winter when the colder weather came in. This is an ongoing issue for people with disabilities. Poverty is something that many experience since there is an additional cost of living for a person with a disability. Indeed, there is also a link between unemployment and poverty as people with disabilities are twice as likely to be unemployed compared to the rest of the population and they are more likely to suffer poverty.

Families having to spend a longer time in their homes when they are normally in school, at work or at a day service means that the cost for heating has spiralled. This is heating that might normally have only been put on for a few hours in the evening but now needs to be on constantly throughout the day. This, however, is not happening because people cannot afford to do so. I echo the call of my party colleagues here: to double the fuel allowance for two weeks in February; to introduce the fuel allowance to those on the pandemic unemployment payment; to establish a discretionary fund of €5 million, as is done in other jurisdictions to meet the additional costs due to Covid restrictions; to make it easier to access the community welfare officers; and to ensure the exceptional needs payment is sufficiently financed.

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