As today's live page comes to a close, here is a round up of the home heating oil support package announced by the executive:

• The executive has pledged £19.2m to go along with the £17m already set aside for the scheme from the UK government.
• That will see up to 340,000 households receiving a £100 payment to go towards their heating oil bills.
• It will apply to households with a combined income of £30,000 or less or those on certain benefits including the state pension.
• The payment will come in the form of a pre-paid voucher, with people asked to apply online.
• Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said he could not yet provide a timeframe for the scheme.
• In a statement issued during the executive press conference, the Secretary of State for NI Hilary Benn announces the expansion of the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme to Northern Ireland.
• Executive calls for a meeting with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer over rising fuel costs.

Don't forget to tune in to Evening Extra at 5pm where there will be plenty of reaction to today's announcement.

Thank you for joining us on the live page.

Ralph Hewitt was today's editor. Jake Wood and Jamie McColgan were the writers.

Image source, Pacemaker

Communities Minister Gordon Lyons says the executive will find the funding for the £19m heating oil scheme "in line with the other pressures" they face.

"But I understand that we are cash strapped," he says.

Lyons adds that they are taking steps to "bring in efficiencies" they need to have in order to address the issue.

An example he gives is his current work with the Treasury to try and secure the purchase of 600 homes to reduce temporary accommodation costs.

"That's going to save us £75m over the next seven years."

Despite efforts to bring costs down, Lyons adds that it is not going to be enough, and the executive will still have to secure additional resources from the UK Government.

Emma Little-Pengelly says they need a settlement from Westminster that is fair and "works for the people of Northern Ireland".

"I am not a supporter of begging bowl politics, I do not believe that we should be constantly running to the Treasury.

"I am more than prepared to do everything that we can to step up, but we do need that support from Treasury to enable us to do that."

She adds: "We must be mindful that people in Northern Ireland are very sqeeezed at the moment.

"But we cannot create a situation where organisations agencies, and aspects of public servcies are being starved of funds, and being unable to increase things to take into account rising costs."

Those who fit into any of the following categories will be eligible to receive the one-off-payment:

• Income based benefit
• A disability benefit
• State pension
• Low income related benefit where household income in both cases is below £30,000 pounds.

However, minister Lyons says he would like to be able to extend the scheme further.

Image source, PA Media

In a statement issued during the executive press conference, the Secretary of State for NI Hilary Benn announces the expansion of the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) to Northern Ireland.

The BICS is a scheme which cuts bills by up to 25% for over 10,000 manufacturers from April 2027, with no increase to household and business energy bills.

It also includes a one-off additional payment in 2027 to be rolled out to an extra 3,000 businesses and cover support firms would have received from April 2026.

Hilary Benn said he is "pleased to confirm that the UK Government will provide the Northern Ireland Executive with equivalent funding to develop a comparable scheme in Northern Ireland, subject to business case approval".

“This is the latest in a number of steps the UK Government is taking to provide vital and timely support for businesses and households with energy costs.

“Energy policy sits with the Northern Ireland Executive, and the Government will continue to engage with Northern Ireland ministers to ensure we are providing support to those most affected.”

The new funding comes on top of the Executive’s £19.3bn on average funding settlement in each year of the Spending Review, as well as the additional £390 million announced at the Spring Statement.

Asked to comment on news of the funding, Finance Minister John O’Dowd said he had been in the executive all morning but would examine the detail.

Asked if it was proof the government had listened to the executive’s pleas, he said that it was not clear “how much they had listened or who they had listened to”, and that it will take time to work through the information.

Jayne McCormack
BBC News NI political correspondent

Asked how close the executive was to agreeing a budget, the first minister said it was “still a work in progress”, but that she was not giving up hope on a multi-year plan.

O’Néill added that she disputed the suggestion that the executive was seeking “special treatment”, and that it was about ensuring fairness for people in Northern Ireland.

The deputy first minister said she was “not a fan of begging bowl politics”, but that in this case, the government was not delivering in the way that it should.

Michelle O'Neill said the executive is not "ducking the difficult decisions".

"The starting point here is an inadequate budget," she says.

O'Neill says that every minister is dealing with a lack of funding in their departments due to the Budget.

"We're not asking for special treatment, we're asking for what's fair and right and appropriate, we're not afraid to duck any of the hard decisions".

The First and Deputy First Minister were asked what makes them think Sir Keir Starmer is any more likely to help with budget concerns when Secretary of State Hilary Benn "effectively snubbed" the meeting today.

First Minister Michelle O'Neill replies: "We're not accountants, we're not here to manage the British Government's allocation to this executive."

She says Benn chose not to attend today due to "diary issues", but she adds "I'm not interested in that".

The First Minister stresses that their concerns lay with the delivery of public services, which like the rest of the UK, have been "decimated by underfunding".

Finance Minister John O'Dowd appeals to the UK Government for an injection of investment.

"To achieve the ambition of the Budget, it's going to take an injection of investment from the British government.

"When you look at the pressures the executive is facing, they mirror pressure elsewhere."

He continued: "Engagement with the British government will continue.

"The challenges they face cannot be met with what the executive has available to it."

Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly says the executive sees the "pressure that people are under".

“They’ve felt it every time they fill the tank, everytime they heat their homes," she says.

She adds that they have called on the prime minister "to act, and to act now".

"The UK Government has the tools, it has the responsibility, and this is the moment to use both."

Gordon Lyons announces he is pleased that the executive has agreed to his proposal to provide "targeted" support for "families and individuals across Northern Ireland who are facing the pressures of increased heating oil costs".

"We will be providing to over 300,000 low income households a £100 prepaid voucher that will help them to heat their homes," he said.

Applications can be made by way of an online form.

He says he understands that this is "short term support", and that "more will need to be done".

Lyons said he could not yet provide a timeframe for the scheme but said legislation would need to be passed, as well as eligibility checks taking place before households can receive the money.

Michelle O'Neill says the focus today is around pressures that people are facing here, facing the executive in terms of the budget, and the pressures that families, businesses and communities are struggling with.

She adds: "There are limitations to a devolved arrangement. That being said, we want to do everything we can."

First Minister Michelle O'Neill says the executive wants to meet Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer over fuel costs.

"The reality of a budget which is very much at breaking point," she said. "These are the realities which have been presented to us because of the allocation that we have been given from London.

"We as an executive have decided that we want to meet with Keir Starmer.

"This is a direct appeal to the British prime minister to meet with us in a cross party delegation because the budget realities that we face are so challenging, so dire and so difficult that he needs to listen to the concerns that all of us are expressing."

According to Consumer Council NI's daily home heating oil price checker, external, the average price of 500 litres now costs £574.75 - the lowest since 4 March when the same amount cost £559.58.

As of today, 300 litres costs an average of £359.74 and 900 litres will set you back £1,016.77.

Prior to the US strikes on Iran on 28 February, the average price of home heating oil cost £202.12 for 300 litres, £307.38 for 500 litres and £536.72 for 900 litres.

Petrol and diesel costs have also risen sharply. The average price of petrol is 154p per litre while diesel costs 188.1p., external

Petrol cost 124.8p and diesel was 132.6p on 26 February - two days before the conflict between the US and Iran began.

Enda McClafferty
BBC News NI political editor

Stormont ministers look set to approve extra money to widen a support package for households which use home heating oil.

It’s understood the executive has pledged £19m to go along with the £17m already set aside for the scheme.

That will see up to 340,000 households receiving a £100 payment to go towards their heating oil bills.

But it will only apply to those homes with a combined income of £30,000 or less.

Details of the package were flagged earlier by Communities Minister Gordon Lyons whose department will take the lead in distributing the payments.

But it is unclear where the extra money will be found as all the Stormont departments are struggling under financial pressures.

Today's meeting comes after Tuesday's protests against fuel prices in Northern Ireland.

Tractors and large vehicles slowed traffic to a crawl on some of the country's busiest roads.

Farmers say they are being hit on several fronts, with the price of fuel and fertiliser all facing a hike.

Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins, who has responsibility for Northern Ireland's road network, said the protests were indicative of "frustration" over increasing costs.

Those protests followed days of widespread disruption in the Republic of Ireland.

The army was called in last week to help remove vehicles blocking roads, with the Irish police treating protests at fuel depots as "blockades".

Jayne McCormack
BBC News NI political correspondent

As it happens, today marks six months exactly since the last joint press conference by our executive.

Theories vary about why there’s been such a long absence but the very fact they are holding one today means ministers will have something to announce shortly.

Namely on approving extra support for homes that rely on home heating oil.

The exact details are still under wraps but we’re expecting four ministers at the podium shortly: the First and Deputy First Ministers, the Communities Minister Gordon Lyons and Finance Minister John O’Dowd.

Reporters have assembled in the executive office’s press conference room at Stormont Castle.

Given how rare these sorts of events are there will be plenty of questions to put to the ministers.

Image source, PA Media

Communities Minister Gordon Lyons is set to propose households in Northern Ireland with a total income of about £30,000 or less will get an extra payment to help with heating oil bills.

The proposal, if approved, would see about 340,000 households receive a payment of about £100 to use for heating oil.

The UK government has pledged £17m pledge to mitigate home heating oil bills and Lyons said he would ask for for his executive colleagues to agree to match that amount.

"I don't believe that [the current amount pledged] is sufficient and that is why I am looking for additional money from the executive," he said.

Lyons told The Nolan Show the scheme "would not help everyone" and urged the government to look at cutting fuel duty.

Good afternoon and welcome to our coverage of the Stormont press conference following this morning's executive meeting around fuel costs.

Ministers were due to discuss how to manage pressures facing households, farmers and businesses in Northern Ireland.

It comes as protests were held in different parts of Northern Ireland on Tuesday over rising fuel costs.

Ministers have repeatedly said they need additional resources from Westminster in order to balance their departmental budgets.

Stay with us as we bring you any potential announcements regarding financial support amid spiralling fuel costs.