Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

The back to school clothing and footwear allowance is an important scheme. This year alone, 103,000 households and 200,000 children have benefited from it. As I have extended the thresholds, a further 18,000 families will qualify next year in addition to those who would have qualified under the current thresholds. I chose to extend the thresholds to make it more widely available rather than to increase the amount involved. Since it is the clothing and footwear allowance and not the book allowance, a fact that should be recognised, the amount of €305 is not bad and would cover uniforms and clothes. In the past 12 months and in recent years, the prices of clothing and footwear have decreased by 7% and 24%, respectively. However, there can be pressure where young people want labels, fashion and so on. It is all the more reason for school uniforms, which do not demand expensive shops. A simple top of navy, grey or so on with a crest ironed or stitched on can be just as distinguishing a factor.

Books are expensive, but Deputy Kathleen Lynch's suggestion that the clothing and footwear allowance should be paid through the school is interesting. When I was Minister for Education and Science, people did not want the book allowance to be paid through the school because they did not want to be identified in the school.

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