Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 29 July 2020
29. Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of the back to school clothing and footwear allowance; if persons in receipt of the pandemic unemployment payment will be eligible to apply for the scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18809/20]
View answerI wanted to ask about the back to school clothing and footwear allowance. I have already heard the Minister state that it is going to be extended to people on the PUP. She might outline the way in which they might go about making the application and the timing in which they might get it. For some on the Covid payment this might be the first time they have applied. Will the social welfare offices be reaching out to inform them that this is available to them?
I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. This year, the eligibility criteria for back to school clothing and footwear allowance have been extended to include the Covid-19 pandemic unemployment payment as a qualifying payment for the allowance. Recipients of this payment will also need to satisfy all the other qualifying conditions to qualify.
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 paid for each eligible child aged from four to 11 years on or before 30 September 2020 is €150 while an allowance of €275 is paid for each eligible child aged over 12 on or before 30 September 2020. The allowance is payable for eligible children between the ages of four and 17 in respect of whom a qualified child increase is being paid. It is also payable to those between the ages of 18 and 22 who are in full-time second level education and in respect of whom a qualified child allowance is being paid.
Similar to previous years, the majority of customers are awarded back to school clothing and footwear allowance automatically and notification of the awards issued to these customers in late June.
This year, 115,000 families have been automatically approved for the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance in respect of 211,000 qualified children. Payments amounting to €43 million were made to these families in the week commencing 13 July 2020.
I thank the Minister. As I understand from her answer, these were people who were already in receipt of the allowance and who would have expected to be in receipt of it again. However, for that cohort of people on the Covid payment who have not gone through this process previously, how many people does the Minister believe that will apply to in those circumstances? The Minister confirmed that the other qualifying criteria - the means test and the necessity to be part of an approved scheme - are still in place. Could she confirm those to the House?
The scheme opened to new applicants on 6 July 2020. To date, a further 21,500 applications have been received. Payments of €1.25 million have already been made to 2,900 families in respect of 6,200 qualified children from the applications received to date. Anybody can apply for the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance on-line at www.welfare.ie. To apply online they must have a public services card and a verified my.Gov.ie account. It is an important support for parents because, as we know, the return to school is an expensive time. Parents have to buy their children's uniforms. This money is available for all those on the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, and it is important that they get that support.
