DUP statements on the delayed £400 energy support payment as the months have passed by have appeared increasingly more desperate.
At first the party was adamant the money would be delivered to Northern Ireland households by November, with several representatives talking up the DUP's role in securing the payments.
DUP MP Sammy Wilson said that while Sinn Fein has been "whinging, the DUP has been working".
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Former Economy Minister Gordon Lyons accused opponents of being "more focused on playing politics with the payment rather than getting it delivered".
He said that if these detractors "had their way the payment would have been delayed until next year".
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".
He rejected arguments that the party blocking Stormont power-sharing in protest against Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol has caused the problems.
"Set a timeline and stop making politically motivated attacks on the DUP," he said.
Just like Brexit and the protocol, it is another classic case of the DUP falling for a Tory government's promises and ending up with egg on their face in the process.
The payment, along with an extra £200 for all households to account for Northern Ireland's high proportion of oil users, will now not be delivered before Christmas.
Energy Minister Graham Stuart told MPs the government's "aspiration" is to see "if at all possible" that the support payment is issued "before the close of winter".
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.
The sticking point appears to be the government belatedly revisiting the idea of enabling customers to "cash out" the payment, so that it can be used on other bills.
Mr Stuart said: "I've insisted that we find a way to make sure that people can cash that out and use it to meet their heating oil bills this winter. That is my insistence."
While the government may dismiss claims that delays are being used to put pressure on the DUP, Whitehall ministers have not shied away from linking the complications to Stormont's collapse.
Mr Stuart told MPs "energy is devolved" and a functioning Executive should have been dealing with the issue instead.
The funding would have been allocated to Northern Ireland through the usual Barnett consequential formula, allowing an Executive to decide how to spend it.
But there are no guarantees this payment would have been delivered any quicker or more effectively if an Executive had been up and running.
The High Street voucher scheme during the Covid-19 pandemic took over a year to deliver after it was first mooted, while who can forget the shambles Stormont made of RHI.
It is clear though that local ministers would have been more alert to the specific issues in Northern Ireland, such as its separate energy market and how two-thirds of households use oil for their heating.
Although there has been much focus on this £600 payment, households in Northern Ireland are still receiving support through the government's Energy Price Guarantee scheme, which is capping the unit price of electricity and gas.
It will also be welcome news for oil customers that the average price of 500 litres of home heating oil in Northern Ireland has fallen to its lowest level since August, according to the latest figures from the Consumer Council.
But for struggling households relying on this extra payment, the blame game over delays in delivering the support will be of little concern.
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