During a government question session, the MP pointed out in a question to Minister for Family Affairs Corinne Cahen that residents in need of assistance with their energy bills should contact their local social office.
Bernard criticised that last week, various news media reported that “a party had paid the energy bills of individual families instead of forwarding them to the legally responsible authority.” This action, according to the MP, “bypassed our country’s social system, and many people are now confused as to where they should go when they need help.”
Last week, the Pirate Party lent money to a family who had their power shut down because they were unable to pay their energy bills. At the time, the opposition party criticised the fact that people’s electricity was turned off despite Minister for Energy Claude Turmes’ promise that this would not happen.
Minister for Family Affairs Corinne Cahen stressed that the mission of the social offices is to help people “in a sustainable way.”
To this end, social workers check, among other things, whether a person has applied for all of the aids that they are eligible for.
According to the Minister, ten weeks before the end of the year, Luxembourg’s social offices have already received more requests for assistance in paying energy bills than in the entire year of 2021.
As of Wednesday, the social offices have processed nearly 900 applications, about 70 more than in the entire year of 2021.
