Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 4 Jul 1991

Vol. 410 No. 4

Adjournment Debate. - School Clothing Allowance.

Mr. Dukes

Last year the Government introduced a new clothing allowance to be operated through the supplementary welfare allowance scheme to help families in particular need in providing winter clothing for children going back to school in September.

When it was first announced it was stated that payments would be made in September. The scheme was given to the health boards to operate and they quickly came to the conclusion that September was not the ideal time to pay this allowance. They recommended that it should be paid in August so that families with children going back to school in September would have this assistance before their children went back to school. A very sensible view was taken of the matter and all the health boards — with the exception of the Eastern Health Board — made the payments in August. They take the form of an extra week's payment of social welfare or social assistance to families in particular difficulties identified by the health boards.

As I said, it is a very sensible scheme and the House was in agreement with it when it was introduced and the health boards very quickly came to the conclusion that to be fully effective the allowance should be paid in the month of August so that parents could anticipate children going back to school. Apparently it proves impossible to do that in the Eastern Health Board area because of a disagreement between the management of the health board and the staff. I do not intend to go into the details of that disagreement because that is not my object at this stage. The point I want to make is that for one reason or other payment was not made until the month of September at a time when it had lost some of its value for the families concerned.

We took the matter up with the Minister in the autumn of last year. He assured us that payment would be made this year in the month of August in the Eastern Health Board area and that arrangements would be made to ensure that this would happen. I have been informed by constituents of mine in the last couple of weeks that they have been told by the health board that payment will not be made this year again until the month of September. My understanding is that all of the other health boards, as was the case last year, will make the payment in the month of August. I would like to ask the Minister, if there is a problem, why it exists in the Eastern Health Board area when it does not exist in any other health board area. Could the Minister now take whatever action is required to make sure that this very sensible payment, with which we all agree, is made at a time when it is of maximum benefit to the families concerned?

Minister for Social Welfare (Dr. Woods)

In relation to last year we were quite clear and the directions sent out were that ideally the payments should be made from mid-August to late-August. As the scheme only started up last year it was possible that payments would not be made until early September. What the Deputy has said is true — there were industrial relations problems in the Eastern Health Board which protracted the payments last year. However I do not envisage the difficulties that the Deputy has mentioned in relation to this year.

Last year I introduced a new back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance to assist families on social welfare and health board payments in meeting the cost of school uniforms and footwear. This new scheme was very well received throughout the country. It represented a major improvement on the previous arrangements and substantially eased the annual burden faced by families dependent on social welfare and health board payments at start of the new school year. It was administered by health boards as part of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme.

We normally expect teething problems in the initial stages of all new schemes. In this instance however the scheme operated very efficiently. This was due in no small measure to the special efforts made by health board staff and particularly the community welfare officers. Despite the usual staff pressures associated with the holiday period, they ensured that the bulk of payments were made well in advance of the new school year. Some of the payments that were not made in advance related to the Eastern Health Board area.

Some 185,000 children benefited under the scheme last year. This year's scheme has already begun in July. The health board have also taken action in relation to this year's scheme which will operate until the end of September. This means that families will receive their payments well in advance of the start of the school year. The amount of the allowance will be £25 for each child in primary school and £40 for each child in secondary school. Five and a half million pounds has been provided to meet the cost.

Following last year's successful scheme I arranged for a comprehensive review of the scheme within my Department in consultation with health boards. Arising from this review I have made a number of major improvements which are included in this year's scheme. Recipients of family income supplement can now for the first time, qualify for the allowance. For example, a family with four children, two at primary school and two at secondary school, with an income of £160 per week, will now receive a clothing and footwear allowance of £130 in addition to their FIS payment of £24 per week. In addition, families on the social employment schemes can now qualify. The extension of the allowance to families on FIS together with the major improvements in the FIS scheme and the child related tax exemptions announced earlier this year ensure that families at work and on low pay are substantially better off than if they were dependent on social welfare payments.

Another improvement in this year's scheme is that in the case of families dependent on long term social welfare payments, including FIS, the allowance will now be paid in respect of children up to age 21 where the child continues in full time education. This is in keeping with the progressive improvements which I have made in recent years in raising the age limit up to which child dependant increases are payable in the case of recipients of long term social welfare payments.

I have also introduced standard income limits so as to ensure greater consistency in the operation of the scheme throughout the country. These income limits will ensure that families who were just outside the eligibility range last year will now qualify for the allowance. It will also make it much easier for people to understand their entitlements.

Information leaflets have recently been distributed by my Department and every effort is being made to maximise take up under the scheme. In the Eastern Health Board area, for example, claim forms have already been posted out to 25,000 families who qualified under last year's scheme.

The new back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance which I introduced last year is in keeping with the Government's policy of targeting special increases to those most in need. The improvements which I have recently made will mean that more families will qualify for the allowance this year. These improvements, together with the substantial increases in weekly social welfare payments which come into effect this month, will significantly improve the position of families dependant on social welfare. I do not visualise a problem in the Eastern Health Board this year.