Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The back to school clothing and footwear allowance scheme provides a one-off payment to eligible families to assist with the costs of clothing and footwear when children start or return to school each autumn. It is not intended to cover the entire cost of going back to school, but, rather, to give parents a helping hand. It is not intended to cover items other than clothing and footwear. Up to €38.8 million has been made available for the scheme this year, which is designed to assist people to meet the costs of going back to school.

The majority of payments, approximately 109,000 families for 193,000 children, will be paid in the week ending 15 July 2016 with no application form required. Customers who have not been notified of an automated payment should make a written application to the Department of Social Protection. The payment rates are €100 in respect of eligible children aged four to 11 and €200 for children aged 12 to 22.

The survey referred to by the Deputy was undertaken by Barnardos in 2015 and indicated that on average, parents pay approximately €100 to €115 for a primary school pupil’s uniform and €195 for a secondary school. I met Barnardos yesterday and this was one of the items we discussed. The survey also showed the average cost of school shoes are approximately €50 to €55 for primary and €60 for secondary school students. The results showed a reduction in uniform costs from 2014 to 2015 for all pupils. The survey also found a reduction in foot wear costs for primary school children, with these costs static for secondary school children.

The figure quoted by the Deputy of almost €800 for secondary school pupils included the cost of school books, for which the Department of Education and Skills has a scheme, classroom resources and voluntary contributions. The cost of clothing and footwear amounted to just one third of this overall cost.

Any changes to the scheme to increase the payment amounts would have to be considered in the context of the budget.

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