Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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618. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated first year and full year cost of the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance. . [25907/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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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 scheme operates from June to September each year.

The allowance is payable in respect of eligible children between the ages of 4 and 17 in respect of whom a Child Support Payment (previously known as Increase for a Qualified Child) is being paid and eligible children between the ages of 18 and 22 who are returning to full-time second level education and in respect of whom a Child Support payment is being paid.

Last year, Back to School Clothing and Footwear payments totaling €57.04m were made to more than 149,500 families in respect of 264,400 qualified children. It is expected that a similar number will benefit from the scheme this year.

The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance scheme will be open in June 2025. It is planned, similar to previous years, that the majority of payments under this scheme will be paid without the need of an application. These customers will receive their Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance payments in July.

Customers who do not receive a notification to their MyWelfare account or by post regarding the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance payment by the end of June can apply for the allowance online on www.mywelfare.ie. The online application will open in June.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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619. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated first year and full year cost of the fuel allowance. [25908/25]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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620. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated first year and full year cost of the fuel allowance for 2025. [25909/25]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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626. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of people currently in receipt of the fuel allowance. [25915/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 619, 620 and 626 together.

Fuel Allowance is a means-tested payment to assist pensioners and other long-term social welfare dependent householders with their winter heating costs. The payment is a contribution towards heating costs; it is not intended to meet these costs in full. The payment is made over the winter season - from September to April - at the weekly rate of €33 or, if preferred, by way of two lump sum instalments - one in September and one in January. Only one Fuel Allowance is payable per household. Those who qualify for the payment do not need to reapply annually.

The records of the Department indicate that 414,188 households were in receipt of Fuel Allowance at the end of April 2025.

The annual cost of the Fuel Allowance from April 2024 to April 2025 was €524 million. The monthly cost of the Fuel Allowance for 2025 is provided in the table below.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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621. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated first year and full year cost of child benefit for the year. [25910/25]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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635. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated first year and full year cost of a €1 increase in the child benefit monthly rate. [25925/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 621 and 635 together.

Child Benefit is a universal monthly payment made to families with children up to the age of 16 years. The payment continues to be paid in respect of children until their nineteenth birthday who are in full-time education, or who have a disability. Child Benefit is currently paid to over 660,000 families in respect of over 1.3 million children.

The monthly cost of Child Benefit is approximately €190 million and the estimated expenditure for 2025 is approximately €2.2 billion.

The estimated cost of increasing the monthly rate of Child Benefit by €1 is approximately €1.3 million per month or €15.8 million per year.

These estimates are based on a full year basis and on the number of recipients in 2025. It should be noted that this costing is subject to change in the context of emerging trends and associated revision of the estimated number of recipients.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.