Debate contribution: Household Energy Costs

Debate contribution by Ms Sian Mulholland on 7 October 2025.

MLA

Ms Sian Mulholland

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

7 October 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Household Energy Costs

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5165203

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. I start by echoing the points made earlier, especially by my colleagues, that this is about fairness, social justice, value and the urgent need for leadership and co-working. Before I wind up on the debate, I will address a specific point as a representative for North Antrim, which is one of the region's most rural constituencies. I see the reality of energy costs every week. Rural households face a double burden. The first burden is the fuel type. Nearly half the homes in Northern Ireland heat with oil, which is a far cry from the position in Great Britain. However, in rural areas, that figure is typically four in five homes. If they are off the gas grid, families have to rely on oil; there is no other option. Unlike gas or electricity, where you can spread the payments, perhaps monthly via a bill or on a metre, oil usually has to be bought up front and with a minimum order. The costs per litre of the smallest drum or in emergency top-ups are so much higher, and those often come with call-out fees. On top of that, prices swing with the global markets. As Mr Durkan commented, there is no social tariff for heating oil. There is no way to smooth those costs through a metre and no effective price cap. That is the very essence of a poverty premium.

Yes. Go on ahead.

There is no laughter from where I am sitting, but that is fine. Thank you. It is the poverty premium: the people with the least pay more and have the least secure form of heat. The second rural issue is bricks and mortar. Rural dwellings are typically older, larger and far less energy efficient than their urban counterparts. Only a small fraction of rural social homes achieve the top EPC ratings. The motion rightly recognises the link between poor insulation, rising energy costs and fuel poverty. In rural constituencies such as mine, that link is painfully clear. The redesign of social homes has to be about not just bricks and mortar but fairness; the ambition and innovation that we talked about; and delivering the most affordable warmth to those who need it most. I look forward to hearing more about the Minister's warm healthy homes scheme at Committee, and how ambitious it is. I hope that a tangible impact will be seen by those who need that intervention the most. The human impact of all this is measurable. Where I come from, I always try to bring the human element of things to everything that we talk about, because, at the end of the day, it is the people we represent who matter the most. Warmer energy-efficient homes are linked to better physical health and better mental health, especially for vulnerable households. Local retrofit evaluations show upgrades that keep average indoor temperatures at around 21°C, cutting energy bills by about one third and reducing household emissions by about two thirds. Fabric improvements and low-temperature, continuous heating can reduce the damp and mould that Mr Durkin referred to. However, if improvements are not rolled out on a wider scale, it will end up costing the public purse in the long run. Cold homes mean more pressure on health and social care services, and while that scale of improvement is not within the gift of the Minister's Department, it is in the gift of the Assembly with joined-up-working approaches. As Kellie highlighted, the upfront investment in better standards is not just a luxury; it is a necessity that pays for itself many times over in lower bills and better health outcomes overall. We know what works. The Housing Executive and the housing associations have trialled retrofits, and with proper insulation, airtight seals, triple glazing, air source heat pumps and solar PV, tenants have seen their bills fall. Scaling that across the province will not only cut our bills and emissions but will create good local jobs, joined-up government and fairness for every constituent, no matter where they live. I want to make a couple of references to the Climate Change Act. Yes, it sets binding targets, but, unfortunately, we cannot move away from those ambitious targets — we simply cannot. As David Honeyford said, they are ambitious targets for a reason. The Minister has said in the past that he would rather avoid targets than risk missing them. My party and I believe in setting ambitious targets and ambitious goals because, if we do fall short, we are still moving forward. That is the point. If we inspire effort, we drive progress and achieve so much more than we would by playing it safe. You are shaking your head, but it is the same thing with child poverty. We talk about the risk of missing targets. Why not aim for more? Why not aim for ambitious targets and actually achieve more than just playing it as we have always played it? In reference to Mrs Cameron's comments about the climate action plan financial assessment, there is an overall neutral financial impact from the policies and proposals that are outlined in the draft climate change plan; that is anticipated, so an overall positive and social economic impact with minor effects is to be expected. Northern Ireland is actually predicted to make a net saving by the fourth carbon budget. Is that not worth continuing to strive for, if we can actually start to make a net saving? The reality is that the climate change actions are a spend-to-save exercise. We cannot afford, on so many levels, to walk back from those targets, not just financially but for our society. I am not sure that I would go quite as far as Mr Carroll in saying that half of the properties will be underwater. That is perhaps a doomsday position, but there is some risk there, and, as someone who lives on the coast, even more for me. For us, the target is not an abstract number. There are commitments to protect people from the actual cost of inaction because if we fail to meet energy efficiency and renewable goals, it does not spare people: it just leaves them colder, poorer and further behind. It is my belief that we have to commit to two tracks in parallel.

Are you going to talk about houses being underwater, Gerry, because I am not sure that we need that right now?

There are ways that we can look at it. I am not entirely sure that what the Member has outlined would be the best way forward, but there are ways. Again, for me, it is about working together. It is about the joined-up nature of work across Departments. For me, it always comes back to one of the failings and weaknesses of this place, which is that we work in silos. So often, Ministers are scrutinised only for their Department's actions. However, when it comes to things that are so cross-cutting, such as fuel poverty and saving money for people in poverty, scrutiny is difficult because of how the Assembly is made up.

On the two tracks that I mentioned, we have a choice. We can retrofit the homes that we have, particularly those that are coldest and costliest to heat and, from my point of view, the rural stock. We can also build the new social houses that people need to be low energy and renewable ready from day 1. As Kellie said in proposing the motion, and as I always mention when we talk about poverty, it is not about whether we can afford to do both things; it is about whether we can afford not to do them. On the spend-to-save model, I understand what the Minister said about the budgetary constraints that his Department is under, but is there not a way to do it? We are asking for him to work across Departments to look at where savings can be made right across the board. It is not just about the Minister's Department. I understand that that is the only scrutiny that we can do, particularly those of us on the Committee for Communities, but there has to be a joined-up approach to all that. That is where there is a missing link. If the Assembly passes the motion, it will send a clear message to the Executive about the need to align budgets, work across Departments and improve skills and procurement so that retrofitting and new builds can both move forward. That will turn fuel poverty into affordable, safe, warm homes and waiting lists into house keys in pockets. I look forward to the warm healthy homes scheme that the Minister will bring forward, and I implore Members to support our motion.

1,464 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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