John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 241: To ask the Minister for Social Protection when a person (details supplied) in County Mayo will receive a decision on their application for a back to school allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25752/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance (BSCFA) scheme operates from the beginning of June until the end of September each year.

The administrative arrangements for the 2011 BSCFA scheme differ from those that applied in previous years. For this year, the majority of BSCFA entitlements were fully automated with no application form required from customers. 127,000 households in respect of over 250,000 children received their payment automatically in June.

Those customers who did not receive an automated payment are required to complete and return an application form to the Department. The timescale for determining applications for Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance claims is dependent on a number of factors including: the number of applications received, when the application is lodged, the availability of the required information such as details of the applicant's income, bank statements and other relevant information regarding an individual's application.

In addition, some aspects of the applications are inevitably time consuming and delays can occur where further investigations or third party evidence is required. Delays can also arise if the applicant is slow to respond to requests for additional information.

Staff are working as quickly as possible on clearing the large volume of manual application claims received. Based on the current volume of applications it could take up to seven weeks from date of receipt to process claims. Departmental records show that an application form was received from the person concerned on 8 August 2011 and it is expected she will be notified of the outcome of the claim shortly.