Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

There are approximately 88,000. As the Senator knows, many different schemes which break down in many different ways are available to those who need them, who may qualify under different criteria. This year, the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance has a budget of over €43.5 million, which is significant. It is beneficial to those who avail of it. We have gone from the position in budget 2007, where we gave €180 per child for those aged two to 11 years and €285 for children aged 12 to 22 years, to the position in this year's budget, where we have increased the payments by €20 to €200 and €305 respectively. This represents an increase of 67% and 61% respectively in the past two years, so there has been a significant increase in this area. I am glad 180,000 children benefit from this. It is achieving its target market.