Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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1224. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the cost of increasing the back to school clothing and footwear allowance by €50. [34597/17]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The back to school clothing and footwear allowance scheme provides a once-off payment to eligible families to assist with the costs of clothing and footwear when children start or return to school each autumn. The allowance is being paid from mid-July to allow parents sufficient time to prepare for back to school.

The rates of the payment for the 2017 scheme are being increased from €100 to €125 for children aged 4 to 11 and from €200 to €250 for children aged 12 years and over. This brings the total allocation for the allowance this year to €47.4 million, an increase of €10 million on what was originally proposed for 2017.

A €50 increase in the 2017 rates would bring the rates to €175 for children aged 4 to 11 and to €300 for children aged 12 years and over. The annual cost to increase the payments to €175 and €300 from the recently announced 2017 rates would be €14.1 million over and above the €47.4 million now allocated to the scheme for 2017.

In addition to the increases in the rates for 2017, the household income limits for the scheme have also been increased to ensure that increases in social welfare announced in Budget 2017 will not affect people’s entitlement to the allowance.

Any further changes to the rates of the allowance would have to be considered within a budgetary context and the scope of the overall resources available for welfare improvements.

The Deputy may be aware that my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, has recently published a new circular on the measures to be adopted by schools to reduce the cost of school uniforms and other costs, as part of a range of measures to take greater account of the needs of parents and students in the school system.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.