Almost a third of NI heating grants from the government may be misdirected, according to an Audit Office report.

The report has raised questions over the way home insulation and central heating grants are targeted.

According to the Audit Office 30% of grants in the Province were given to homes which already comply with desired energy efficiency level, and are not experiencing fuel poverty.

Tackling fuel poverty is a major concern for the Department of Social Development.

However, the department's objective will not be met through the £22m-a-year Warm Homes scheme alone, according to the report.

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The Warm Homes initiative has seen around 60,000 Northern Ireland dwellings benefit from better insulation, which has included installing new central heating systems.

But the Audit Office's report has suggested that a significant number of the fuel poor were excluded from grants. These included those on low incomes and others who did not claim assistance.

The awarding of grants to homes, which do not need them, will be seen as the most serious flaw in the current system.

During the last financial year 30% of funding allocated to increasing insulation went to homes already sufficiently energy efficient.

Concerns have also been raised in the report, regarding the quality of around 50% of installations.

It is expected that the Fuel Poverty Task Force will also enquire as to why insulation issues in older solid-walled homes, in rural area, have yet to be addressed.

(PR/JM)