The back to school clothing and footwear allowance scheme assists low income families with extra costs when children start school each autumn. The scheme operates from the beginning of June to the end of September each year and is administered on behalf of my Department by the health boards.
A person may qualify for payment of a back to school clothing and footwear allowance if he or she is in receipt of a social welfare or health board payment, or is participating in an approved employment scheme or is attending a recognised education or training course, and has household income at or below certain specified levels. Under the scheme an allowance of €80 is payable in respect of qualified children aged from two to 11 years. An allowance of €150 is payable in respect of qualified children aged from 12 to 22 years.
A total of 75,807 families have received the back to school clothing and footwear allowance this year. This has benefited some 158,000 children.
As part of the expenditure review initiative under way in all Departments, a working group was established to undertake a fundamental examination of the back to school clothing and footwear allowance scheme. The report of the working group was finalised in August 2004 and has been forwarded to the central expenditure review initiative steering committee for final consideration. I expect that this process will be completed soon, to enable publication of the report early in 2005.
In its detailed report, the review working group addressed all aspects of the efficiency and effectiveness of the scheme, including the administrative system for making payments and their timing, the identification of the target group, the level of take up of the allowance by potential clients and, the adequacy of the payment rates. It also addressed the appropriateness of the eligibility criteria and the role of the scheme in encouraging participation in education by children of low income families.
The working group analysed a number of policy options for the scheme. The review concluded that, while the scheme continued to be worthwhile in its own right in its current format, consideration should be given to subsuming it into any future development of a broader so-called second tier of child income support as proposed by the National Economic and Social Council.
Pending any such future general developments in relation to child income support, the review findings were that: the scheme should continue in its current format and be administered by the health boards; steps should be taken to publicise the scheme more; orphans' payments should be regarded as a qualifying payment for the scheme; and the scheme payment rates and income limits do not warrant adjustment, in light of real increases in the value of the allowance and of social welfare rates generally in recent years compared to the trend of reduction in the cost of clothing and footwear. I will give the review findings full consideration when the report is finalised.