Over 126,000 families in Ireland are set to receive the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance from today, Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys has said.
The payment, which is given out by the Department of Social Protection, is designed to support eligible families with the cost of school uniforms and footwear ahead of the upcoming school term.
This means that €160 will be paid in respect of children aged 4-11 years old, and €285 will be paid in respect of children aged 12 years and over in second level education.
In total, the payments made this week will go to 126,000 families regarding over 223,000 children, and will cost over €47.5 million. A notification of the automated payment is sent to families by post or through their MyWelfare account.
“I am delighted to announce that the Back-to-School Clothing and Footwear Allowance payments for 2024 commence from today,” Minister Humphreys said.
“This scheme is so important in terms of supporting parents in meeting their back-to-school costs over the coming weeks.
“This week, my Department will issue automatic payments to over 126,000 families in respect of over 223,000 children.”
The Minister went on to state that sending children back to school can be a source of difficulty for many families.
“The costs associated with children both starting and returning to school can put a lot of financial pressure on families throughout the country,” she said.
“The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance provides valuable support to families to assist with these costs and I would urge anybody who has not yet applied to check their eligibility for the scheme.
“The support that we are providing today is on top of a number of measures that we have introduced in order to support families across the country with the cost of living.
“These include a major roll-out of the Hot School Meals Programme and the delivering of the Free School Books Scheme.
“These supports are in addition to the double Child Benefit Payment and increases to the Working Family Payment threshold – which have benefitted tens of thousands of working families.
“As Minister, I will continue to support working families, who will form a big focus of our Budget negotiations that will take place over the next number of weeks.”
In a statement, the Department said that the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance “remains open for applications until September 30th and eligible families are being encouraged to apply.”
“Decisions on these cases will be processed manually and if entitled payment will issue once they are processed,” the spokesperson added.
The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance offers a one-time payment to eligible families to help cover the cost of school clothing and footwear.
For each eligible child aged 4 – 11 years as of 30th September 2023, the allowance is €160. For each eligible child aged 12 – 22 years as of 30th September 2024, the allowance is €285. Students aged 18 – 22 years must be returning to full-time second-level education at a recognised school or college in autumn 2024 to qualify for the payment.
The Department of Social Protection has set up dedicated phone lines at 071-9193318 and 0818-11-11-13 to handle enquiries about the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance during regular business hours, Monday to Friday, from 9.00am to 5.00pm. Additionally, enquiries can be sent via email to bscfa@welfare.ie regarding applications or eligibility.
The deadline to apply for this year’s Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance is 30th September 2024.
More information on the eligibility criteria for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance can be found here: www.gov.ie/bscfa.