Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, 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 Government has provided €58.17m for the scheme in 2022 which operates from June to September.

The allowance is payable for 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. 

The majority of customers are awarded Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance automatically and will be notified of their award.  This year, those customers will be notified of their award by 20 June.  Customers who have not received notification of an automated award will be required to apply for the allowance before the closing date of 30 September 2022.

The number of customers that applied for Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance in each of the years 2017 to 2021, the number who were awarded the allowance, and the total cost to the Exchequer for each of the years is set out in tabular form below.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.