An energy task force set up to help deliver the £400 support to householders has met just twice since it was announced more than three months ago.
Ministers and officials from London and Stormont, along with the Utility Regulator, were meant to work together to deliver the support “as soon as possible”.
But it is understood the plan for the task force was derailed as officials out of London essentially took over management of the as yet undelivered support.
No date has yet been announced for when householders here will receive the support to be delivered via credit on electricity bills or on pre-paid meters and key pads.
DUP MP Sammy Wilson claimed in the House of Commons the delay is linked to the continued lack of an Assembly.
Senior civil servants in London are "interfering" in Northern Ireland's politics by seeking to use the £400 energy payments as a "lever to get the Assembly back into operation", the East Antrim MP said.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said he was unaware of the claims but would make enquiries.
It is not clear if the payments in Northern Ireland will be made as one lump sum or in smaller instalments.
Treasury officials have raised questions over delivering a large amount of money, in total approximately £300m, directly to utility companies here while the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has been grappling with the differences between the energy markets in the north and Britain.
Elsewhere in the UK, gas and electricity customers are receiving the payment in the form of six monthly credits on their bills and meters, which began in October. Northern Ireland has its own market regulator and does not have the energy price cap system that operates in the rest of the UK.
While it is claimed discussions have been ongoing between officials in London and Belfast for several months, the task force set up in mid-August has met just twice. Then Ministers Gordon Lyons and Deidre Hargey were announced as involved in the task force.
Following a visit to Belfast, then Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi said: “We need to keep the momentum up to get equivalent energy support to people in Northern Ireland and that’s why today I’ve launched a joint taskforce.
“We’ve got our noses to the grindstone, we’re making progress, and we have a shared objective with Minsters in Northern Ireland to get this off the ground as soon as possible.”
In an answer to a parliamentary question, BEIS junior minister Graham Stuart said: "Two taskforce meetings have been held to support the UK Government delivering £400 off energy bills in Northern Ireland this winter."
In the Commons, Mr Wilson said: "Ministers have worked with the (former) economy minister (Gordon Lyons) in Northern Ireland, they have made commitments that payments will be made before Christmas.
"But it seems that some senior civil servants are seeking to use non-payment as a lever to get the Assembly back into operation again."
He asked for confirmation the money is available, whether energy companies are ready to deliver, whether the Government will ensure payments are made before Christmas and asked for an investigation into his claims about civil servants and interference.
Mr Hunt responded: "Can I assure him that we are absolutely determined to make sure that support gets out to everyone in the United Kingdom this Christmas as quickly as possible and I am absolutely not aware of any delay in the way that he suggests, but I will happily make enquiries to make sure that is not the case."
A UK parliamentary debate on energy price support in the north, called by Alliance North Down MP Stephen Farry, will be held today.
