Plans to roll-out a £100 pre-paid card to provide support to families struggling to buy home heating oil is progressing with further details about an actual launch date expected “in the coming weeks”. Home heating oil prices rocketed earlier this year, essentially doubling, at a time when traditionally households might have experienced a decrease ahead of the summer months. It was in mid-April that the pre-paid card was confirmed, the £100 to be used directly in purchasing from oil suppliers. In response, Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said: “My Department has been working at pace to implement the Home Heating Oil Support Scheme. Under what has already been approved, eligible households will be able to apply for a £100 pre-paid card that can be used at heating oil suppliers.