Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 May 2017
158. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated full year cost of increasing each rate of the back to school clothing and footwear allowance by €10.00, €20.00, €30.00, €40.00 and €50.00 respectively; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25249/17]
View answerThe back to school clothing and footwear allowance (BSCFA) scheme provides a once-off payment to eligible families to assist with the extra costs when children start school each autumn. The Government has provided €37.4 million for the scheme in 2017.
End of year records show that under the 2016 BSCFA scheme, payments were made to over 154,000 families in respect of some 283,000 children. The rate of payment was €100 in respect of children aged 4 to 11 and €200 for children over 12 years in second level education.
Using the total number of children covered by the scheme in 2016 as a basis, the additional cost to increase the BSCFA rates by the amounts listed per age group is set out in the attached tabular statement. Changes to increase the rate of payment of any scheme administered by the Department would have to be considered in a budgetary context.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
Full -Year Additional Cost to Increase BSCFA rates by amounts listed:
|
Age 4-11 years (166,000 Children) |
Age over 12 years (117,000 Children) |
||
|
Increased Payment Amount |
Cost of Increase |
Increased Payment Amount |
Cost of Increase |
|
€10 |
€1.66 million |
€10 |
€1.17 million |
|
€20 |
€3.32 million |
€20 |
€2.34 million |
|
€30 |
€4.98 million |
€30 |
€3.51 million |
|
€40 |
€6.64 million |
€40 |
€4.68 million |
|
€50 |
€8.30 million |
€50 |
€5.85 million |
