Ms Corrinne Hasson:

In February 2025, there were 5,059 children between the ages of four and 18 eligible for the back to school allowance. According to the Department of Social Protection figures, it said 2,300 children would be eligible. Therefore, we are talking about approximately 2,700 children who will not get it. One of the biggest frustrations for us is that foster carers should not be means tested for a payment for a child in the care of the State. There is a worry that if we start means testing foster carers now, it may open the door for further means testing in future. The cost for those 5,059 children would be just over €1 million, which is not a huge amount of money to give a one-off payment for school supports.