Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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1229. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans to expand the maximum wage limit to qualify for the back to school clothing and footwear allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35960/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, 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 costs of clothing and footwear when children start or return to school each autumn. The Government has provided €49.5 million for the scheme in 2018.

In general, the allowance is payable in respect of eligible children between the ages of 4 and 17 in respect of whom a qualified child allowance is being paid and eligible children between the ages of 18 and 22 who are in full-time second level education and in respect of whom a qualified child allowance is being paid. To qualify for BSCFA a person must meet a number of conditions namely:

- The child must meet the age criteria,

- The applicant must be in receipt of a qualifying payment and getting an increase in that payment for the qualified child (except in certain circumstances),

- The assessable income for the household must be within prescribed limits,

- The applicant and the child (or children) in respect of whom the allowance is claimed must be resident in the State.

The household income limits for the scheme were increased for 2018 to ensure that the increases in social welfare payment rates introduced by Budget 2018 do not negatively impact on people’s entitlement to the allowance. The household income limits are set out in the tabular statement.

Any changes to the scheme, including a change to the household income limits would have to be considered in a budgetary context and within the scope of the overall resources available for welfare improvements.

Further information on the scheme is available on the Department's website: www.welfare.ie/backtoschool

I trust this clarifies the position.

Tabular Statement

Weekly household income limits for 2018