John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As of 5 September 2018, when the school year was recommenced in most schools, 10,470 people were waiting on a decision on their application for the back to school clothing and footwear allowance. Over the summer, people waiting on a decision had been unable to talk to anyone within the Department regarding the status of their application because all the phone lines were down. The Minister blamed these delays on huge volumes of applications. I find it bizarre that she thinks this is unexpected. The Department and the Minister are aware of the huge volume of applications annually. Many families in serious financial difficulty have had to start the school year having had to visit loan sharks in many cases to secure funding to put their children through school. Can we get an update as to where those applications are and what went on within the Department? An apology is due to those 10,470 people who submitted applications with no decisions yet made.

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