John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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556. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the estimated full-year cost of restoring the back to school clothing and footwear allowance in full. [13850/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The back to school clothing and footwear allowance (BSCFA) scheme provides a once-off payment to eligible families to assist with the extra costs when children start school each autumn. The BSCFA is not intended to meet the full cost of school clothing and footwear but to provide assistance towards these costs. The Government has provided €37.4 million for the scheme in 2017.

End of year records show that under the 2016 BSCFA scheme, payments were made to over 154,000 families in respect of some 283,000 children, of whom 166,000 were aged 4-11 years and 117,000 were aged 12 years and older. The rate of payment was €100 in respect of children aged 4 to 11 and €200 for children over 12 years in second level education.

In 2011 rates of payment were €200 and €305. Using the number of children covered by the scheme in 2016 as a basis, the full-year additional cost to increase the BSCFA to the 2011 rates would be €28.9 million. Using the same basis, the additional cost to restore the 2012 payment rates, which were €150 and €250, would be approximately €14.2 million.

Changes to increase the rate of payment of any scheme administered by the Department would have to be considered in a budgetary context.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.