Firmus accused of only supplying sticking plaster solutions for Derry residents struggling to pay gas bills

Campaign group, Derry Against Fuel Poverty, have slammed Firmus Energy chief, Niall Martindale, for comments made to The Derry News last week regarding the sharp rise of gas bill prices.

Mr Martindale, who is Firmus' Interim Managing Director, insisted that a disconnection of gas supply for those struggling to make bill payments would only be a “last resort” and said the rises put in place over the last 10 months was down to the volatile energy markets which dictate the price of gas worldwide.

However, a spokesperson for Derry Against Fuel Poverty, Sinéad Quinn, stated that for some in the city, self-disconnection has more or less effectively happened given many are making the hard choice of rationing their heat supply.

And that despite whatever solutions Firmus were offering to the current cost of living crisis, it is not enough as “sticking plasters and tinkering around the edges will help no-one”.

She said: “The Firmus boss stated that 'disconnection is a very last resort, in what was intended to come across as some kind of noble act'.

“That is not the reality for many of the working class people in Derry. Most of the working and non-working poor prepay for their gas, so when they simply run out of money they are already effectively disconnected.

“Never mind the fact that having to ration heat, also a form of self-disconnection, has been happening for the past twelve months in many homes across the city.

“Firmus’ primary raison d'être is not to make heating bills affordable. Their motivation is profit.

“Whilst they didn’t provide returns to their shareholders in 2020, it doesn’t decrease the amount of money they are making every single day off our basic human needs.

“The fact that he refused to disclose the sum they donated to the Bryson scheme tells us what we already know – it simply wasn’t anywhere near enough.

“Martindale said, 'The third increment of increases was done with a lot of pain because we didn't want to do that'. We are certain that the pain felt by working class folk, having to squeeze themselves sideways to absorb the first, second, third and fourth hike within a year, was much greater than that of Firmus’ bosses.

“Instead of focusing on their involvement in hardship funds or schemes sometime in the future, he would be better using his clout now to echo our calls for basic household incomes to be increased for the working and non-working poor.

“No-one, in 2022, should be living in poverty in this city. That would be the noble thing to do. Sticking plasters and tinkering around the edges will help no-one.”

Meanwhile, Derry Against Fuel Poverty, will hold its third rally in the city this weekend.

^{Sinéad Quinn, spokesperson for Derry Against Fuel Poverty}

They are asking people interested in attending, to gather in Waterloo Place at 3pm on April 2, to rally against both governments at Westminster and Stormont as well as the local Council of what they see as “repeated inaction” regarding high energy bills continuing to increase in price.

Sinéad Quinn added “In the week that Stormont has went into recess to facilitate the May election, it is beyond shameful that we are no further forward in resolving this crisis for the most financially vulnerable in our society.

“Poverty affects us all whether you’re from Top of the Hill or Tullyally, Clooney or Creggan.

“We can blame the DUP for resigning at the beginning of February, but the reality is that our governments knew this was coming as far back as last summer. They had time, money and opportunities and actively refused to help every step of the way.

“Even as recent as October, Finance Minister Conor Murphy turned down a bid from Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey to reinstate the £20 per week Universal Credit cut.

“Obviously the issue is much wider than Universal Credit claimants with people in work and out of work on legacy benefits also fiercely struggling to keep their heads above the water.

“But this would have been a good starting block to protect some of the most poor, in work and out of work, from the harshest brunt of this cost of living crisis.

“Whilst the Bryson Emergency Fuel Payment scheme closes on Thursday, our electricity and heating bills, whilst possibly reduced somewhat by brighter and warmer days, aren’t going anywhere.

“Never mind that, the £200 Energy Support Scheme payment won’t sustain many people much longer than the next fortnight.

“Sadly, neither of these two schemes went far enough to begin with with too few qualifying for support and a £200 one-off payment being unforgivably inadequate in light of already unaffordable fuel bills doubling.

“This is supported evidentially by charities like Foyle Foodbank and St Vincent De Paul reporting record requests for support in recent weeks and months.

“It has become clear that our governments have no intention of taking the necessary steps to deal with the widening and deepening poverty that has long plagued the working classes in our city.

“Tinkering around the edges has become the norm when it comes to the deprivation that the working and non-working poor find themselves in through no fault of their own.

“It is our duty to challenge that dereliction of duty and agitate for change in whatever way we see fit. Whether that be sit-ins, protests, strikes or rallies, direct action is now our duty.

“Over 50 years ago, well before my time, people assembled from all areas of this city to defend our basic freedoms under one banner.

“That organic, grassroots, united front quickly developed into what is better known as the Civil Rights Movement.

“I grew up as a child in the Bogside in awe of the fearless determination, in the face of utter desperation and despair, shown by people like Eamonn McCann, Bernadette McAliskey and John Hume.

“At that time, a Unionist government was at the helm. Today, we have a coalition of green and orange voices and it’s failing us all.

“We desperately need to harness that same spirit that people exhibited in the late sixties to lift us up and carry us forward today.

“The time is now. If we fail to assert ourselves in the face of the most vicious attack on working and non-working poor that we have seen in fifty years, we only fail ourselves.”