No financial 'fire power' for energy price relief, says finance minister

The finance minister says Stormont does not have the financial "fire power" to fund a meaningful consumer support package in response to the rise in energy prices.

John O'Dowd said it would require intervention from the UK government.

On Monday, the SDLP opposition called on Stormont ministers to come up with a limited and targeted scheme.

The SDLP suggested it could be funded from £380m of additional money provided at the time of the chancellor's spring statement.

Global oil prices rose sharply after Iran began launching strikes across the Middle East in response to attacks by the US and Israel.

On Tuesday oil prices fell back down after US President Donald Trump said the war in Iran would come to an end "very soon". However, they still remain significantly higher than they were before the war.

Almost two-thirds of homes (62.5%) in Northern Ireland use oil for heating - the highest proportion of people among UK nations.

Unlike gas or electricity, the heating oil market is unregulated and prices have doubled over the last week.

The Consumer Council for Northern Ireland publishes weekly average home heating oil prices every Thursday.

On 5 March, the average price for 900 litres was £948, up from £536 the previous week. The average price for 500 litres had increased to £556 from £307 and for 300 litres, to £347 from £202.

On Monday, the leader of the opposition at Stormont Matthew O'Toole said his party - the SDLP - wanted to urge the executive to "start planning now to help people".

O'Dowd said: "The SDLP are acutely aware that the Executive does not have the ability to meet the scale of the challenge that is at us."

Meanwhile, the chancellor has said some heating oil companies are using the crisis in the Middle East "as an opportunity to rip off consumers".

Responding to the huge price increase some heating oil customers have faced, Rachel Reeves confirmed that the government had asked the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) to look into the issue.

"You've got price gouging, and the way to deal with that is ensure that customers are treated fairly and that companies are not ripping off their customers", she said.

Speaking in the Commons, Reeves also addressed petrol retailers, warning that price gouging "will not be tolerated" at forecourts.

Last week, the body representing heating oil suppliers in Northern Ireland rejected allegations of profiteering saying that higher prices for consumers reflected rising wholesale prices.