Call for fuel-poverty strategy to combat winter mortality

The Institute of Public Health (IPH) has called on the Government to develop a strategy to tackle "unacceptably high" levels of fuel poverty in Ireland at a time when soaring energy prices are putting the health of more vulnerable households at risk.

Dr Helen McAvoy, author of the IPH's All-Ireland Policy Paper on Fuel Poverty and Health, said the Government should introduce a fuel-poverty strategy similar to the model currently in place in Northern Ireland.

Ireland has among the highest levels of excess winter mortality in Europe, with an estimated 2,800 more deaths occurring during the winter months, according to the report.

"Fuel poverty remains an important public health issue on the island and continues to contribute to significant ill-health and social exclusion, particularly among vulnerable and low-income households," Dr McAvoy said.

"It is such a pivotal issue in Ireland and we know that it isn't going to go away on its own," she said.

Fuel poverty occurs when people live in cold, damp and thermally inefficient houses and it is commonly defined as when households need to spend more than 10 per cent of their income on energy to heat their homes.

Colder indoor temperatures place a "thermal stress" on the body, affecting the immune system and the blood and cardiovascular system, while cold and damp houses harbour mould and dust mites, which aggravate respiratory and allergic conditions.

Living in damp, cold housing also has negative effects on mental health.

In Northern Ireland, households headed by an older person or a person with a disability are most likely to experience fuel poverty, while in the Republic, the highest prevalence of fuel poverty has been recorded among single parents.

However, there is no systematic monitoring of fuel poverty in the Republic, and the most recent study, conducted in 2001, indicated that 227,000 homes were suffering from the problem.

Between 2002 and 2006, gas prices increased 70 per cent, oil costs rose 50 per cent and electricity prices increased more than 30 per cent, according to the report, which warns that these increases may hamper efforts to tackle fuel poverty by driving already poor households deeper into debt and plunging "new" households into fuel poverty.

Dr McAvoy said the Office for Social Inclusion, which is based in the Department of Social and Family Affairs, would be well placed to lead a co-ordinated national fuel poverty strategy, which would examine health impacts, welfare arrangements and a crucial need to improve housing standards.

"Supporting the income of fuel-poor households is a worthwhile measure for families experiencing acute situations of cold homes, ill-health, debt and the threat of disconnection . . . But in the long term, heating thermally inefficient homes is not a good long-term investment," Dr McAvoy said.

The public health institute's paper highlights studies that estimate that 44 per cent of excess winter deaths in Ireland are associated with poor housing standards.

The report also expresses concern that under "the polluter pays" principle, low-income households will be the most penalised by the proposed carbon tax, because they tend to use the most carbon-intensive fuels and inefficient heating systems.

Charities and organisations working with older people have been angered by the Government's decision not to increase the rate of payment of the fuel allowance in the Budget at a time when energy prices are increasing.

Home heating oil prices spiked by 12 per cent in November.

The St Vincent de Paul said that it would have to spend more money helping people to pay their fuel bills than it did last winter, when it gave €3.4 million in supports to people struggling to power their homes.