'But there are no guarantees energy payments would have been delivered any quicker if an Executive had been up and running.'
DUP statements on the delayed £400 energy support payment as the months have passed by have appeared increasingly more desperate.
But with no sign of the money, which was due to arrive in the form of an electricity credit, DUP MP Gavin Robinson accused the UK government of "manufacturing excuses". It is the flimsiest of commitments and of little comfort to those families who may be relying on this payment to keep warm over the festive period.
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