Vol. 510 No. 3
325 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs when the amounts of £43 for children up to 11 years and £58 for children up to 12 years and upwards were fixed as an allowance under the back to school clothing and footwear allowance scheme; and his views on whether there is a case for increasing these amounts. [22367/99]
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 £43 is payable in respect of children from two to 11 years and an allowance of £58 is payable in respect of qualified children from 12 to 22 years. These rates were last increased in 1996. However, the clothing and footwear component of the consumer price index published by the Central Statistics Office has been falling since 1996 and fell by 7.3 per cent between October 1998 and September 1999. These payment rates cannot be viewed in isolation from the significant improvements in primary weekly payments which I have implemented.
