Seán Connick (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It is timely and most appropriate for him to do so at this stage. The back to school clothing and footwear allowance scheme provides a once-off payment to eligible families to help them to meet the extra costs that arise when children start school each autumn. The allowance is not intended to cover the cost of sending children to school. As the name suggests, it is intended to assist with clothing and footwear expenses. A person may qualify for payment of an allowance if he or she is in receipt of a social welfare payment, including family income supplement, or a HSE payment; if he or she is participating in an approved employment scheme; or if he or she is attending a recognised education and training course and has a household income at or below certain set levels. The purpose of the household income limit is to ensure the allowance is directed at those with the greatest need. For the 2010 scheme, the income thresholds for entitlement to back to school clothing and footwear allowance have been increased. The income limit for the allowance for parents with one child is now €564 for couples and €411 for one-parent families. The income limit increases by €29.80 for each additional qualified child. The rates of payment for back to school clothing and footwear allowance have been increased significantly in recent years. Since 2005, the allowance has increased from €80 to €200 in respect of qualified children from two to 11 years, and from €150 to €305 for those from 12 to 22 years. These are increases of 150% and 103%, respectively. In addition, an extra allowance of €215 is payable in respect of 18 year olds for whom compensatory child benefit is in payment. The total payment in respect of 18 year olds in this category is €520. The number of children benefiting from the allowance increased from 180,000 in 2007 to over 275,000 in 2009. The number of families benefiting in this period increased from 88,000 to 139,000. Current indications are that approximately 160,000 families, with more than 310,000 children, will benefit from the scheme in 2010, at a cost of over €82 million.

As the Deputy is aware, the back to school clothing and footwear allowance scheme is administered on behalf of the Department by the community welfare division of the HSE. Up to 105 temporary posts for a period of six months were sanctioned by the Department of Finance on 13 May 2010 for the administration of the scheme in 2010. The HSE has advised that the recruitment of these workers has commenced. In order to assist with the administrative efficiency of the scheme, the Department will give the HSE details of clients who were paid the allowance in 2009 and were in receipt of a departmental payment at May 2010. The purpose of this approach is to give the HSE the most up-to-date information that will allow it to issue an application form to the individual households that are most likely to qualify for the scheme in 2010. The HSE has advised that these application forms will be issued by the middle of June and that households will be advised of all details relevant to the processing of their applications. The HSE has indicated that in general, the payment of the allowance should issue six weeks from date of receipt of the application. The back to school clothing and footwear allowance scheme is considered to be an important support for parents at a time of particular financial strain. The improvements to the scheme in recent years provide a major boost to meeting the financial costs associated with the return to school for those who most need assistance.

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