Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 634: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if a person (details supplied) in County Kildare qualifies for the back to school allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29482/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance (BSCFA) scheme is administered on behalf of the department by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive (HSE). Applications for the allowance may be made between the beginning of June and the end of September each year. A person may qualify for payment of an allowance if he or she is in receipt of a social welfare or health service executive payment, is participating in an approved employment scheme or attending a recognised education or training course, and has household income at or below certain specified levels.

The HSE – Dublin Wicklow and Kildare area has advised that due to the large number of back to school clothing and footwear claims received to date they are unable to confirm at this time that a claim has been received from the person concerned.

It will take a number of weeks to determine entitlement to payment for all applicants in this HSE Region. Applicants will be notified of the decision on their application by the HSE in due course. The person concerned may call the HSE free-phone number 1800 201 698 to ascertain the status of her claim at a later date.

Further details relating to the BSCFA scheme, the qualifying criteria and administrative arrangements for processing claims for each HSE area is available on the Department and HSE/CWS websites at http://.www.welfare.ie http://communitywelfareservice.ie/cws_public/