The "fuel poverty" charity Energy Action is calling on the Department of the Environment to extend the central heating programme for local authority homes to all houses of the elderly, instead of giving carbon tax compensation.
A spokesman for Energy Action, Mr Charlie Roarty, welcomed last week's announcement that 45,000 local authority houses were to have central heating installed, however, he said this was "not enough" to tackle "fuel poverty" among the elderly.
"79 per cent of houses are in the owned housing sector and of those a large number are owned by older people. For the older poor, it's unusual that their homes would have central heating."
Around 12 per cent of houses do not have adequate heating. However, for elderly people, that figure is almost 20 per cent. Nationally, 23 per cent of houses occupied by a single person over 65 have no central heating. However, in some counties the number is far higher, with more than 40 per cent of single pensioners in Kerry and Roscommon living without adequate heating.
The elderly poor, who are most likely to use solid fuel will be hardest hit when carbon taxes are introduced, Mr Roarty said.
"The way the taxes will be structured, the people using coal or peat or propane gas cylinders, will be taxed more heavily, because the more carbon used, the more you get taxed."
Compensating people by giving them an extra social welfare payment won't solve any problems he said, as the money will represent a subsidy for using efficient fuel.
While upgrading the entire housing stock in need of central heating, including the homes of the elderly, would involve considerable expense (estimated at more than €2 billion), the long-term savings would deliver considerable benefits he said.
