Vol. 524 No. 2
350 Mr. Aylward asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will consider substantially increasing the back to school allowance as administered by health boards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22211/00]
The back to school clothing and footwear allowance scheme is administered on behalf of my Department by the health boards. The scheme is designed to assist certain recipients of social welfare and health board payments with the cost of children's school uniforms and footwear. Certain people on low incomes who are in receipt of family income supplement may also qualify for assistance.
Under the scheme, an allowance of £63 is payable in respect of qualified children aged two to 11 years while £78 is payable in respect of qualified children aged 12 to 22 years. These current rates represent a £20 increase on the rates which applied last year.
It is worth noting that the clothing and footwear component of the consumer price index published by the Central Statistics Office has been falling over the past number of years. For example, the three monthly period up to August 2000 saw a decline of 5.4%, while prices declined by a cumulative 18.4% over the ten years from June 1990 to June 2000.
Nevertheless, I am aware of the difficulties faced by low income households when faced with providing clothing and footwear for children at back to school time in September each year. I am also very conscious of the importance of supporting low income families so that their children can participate fully in the education system to the maximum extent possible.
