Mr Maskey said: "This scheme is being introduced by the Department of Social Development as part of the 'Warmer Homes' initiative. It is available to people over 60 years of age and in receipt of a pension. And will be available to 1,300 vulnerable households.
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"People who have boilers which are over 15 years old can apply for the grant which may be as much as £1500, to replace their old boiler. This is a very important scheme as research has found that over 70% of home heating boilers are not as efficient as they could be. This leads to people having to burn more fuel to stay warm and in turn buy more fuel to heat their homes. In these times people may be unable to afford this and so they are caught in a fuel poverty trap.
"In addition to the fuel poverty element there is also an environmental issue for boiler replacement as an important consideration for our climate."
(GK)
