Press release
Minister Humphreys announces over 126,000 families to receive Back to School Allowance this week
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys TD, has today announced that over 126,000 families will receive the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance from today.
The payment from the Department of Social Protection is designed to support eligible families with the cost of school uniforms and footwear ahead of the upcoming school term.
This means that €160 will be paid in respect of children aged 4-11 years old.
And €285 will be paid in respect of children aged 12 years and over in second level education.
Overall, payments totalling over €47.5 million will be made this week to over 126,000 families, in respect of over 223,000 children. A notification of the automated payment is sent to families by post or through their MyWelfare account.
Commenting on the payments, Minister Humphreys said:
“I am delighted to announce that the Back-to-School Clothing and Footwear Allowance payments for 2024 commence from today.
“This scheme is so important in terms of supporting parents in meeting their back-to-school costs over the coming weeks.
“This week, my Department will issue automatic payments to over 126,000 families in respect of over 223,000 children.
The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance remains open for applications until September 30th and eligible families are being encouraged to apply. Decisions on these cases will be processed manually and if entitled payment will issue once they are processed.
Minister Humphreys added:
“The costs associated with children both starting and returning to school can put a lot of financial pressure on families throughout the country.
“The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance provides valuable support to families to assist with these costs and I would urge anybody who has not yet applied to check their eligibility for the scheme.
“The support that we are providing today is on top of a number of measures that we have introduced in order to support families across the country with the cost of living.
“These include a major roll-out of the Hot School Meals Programme and the delivering of the Free School Books Scheme.
“These supports are in addition to the double Child Benefit Payment and increases to the Working Family Payment threshold – which have benefitted tens of thousands of working families.
“As Minister, I will continue to support working families, who will form a big focus of our Budget negotiations that will take place over the next number of weeks.”
County Breakdown of this week’s recipients of the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance:
| County | Number of Families Benefitting | Number of Children Benefitting | |
| Carlow | 2,187 | 3,748 | |
| Cavan | 2,174 | 3,991 | |
| Clare | 2,953 | 5,255 | |
| Cork | 11,842 | 20,562 | |
| Donegal | 5,897 | 10,615 | |
| Dublin | 32,585 | 56,339 | |
| Galway | 5,647 | 10,278 | |
| Kerry | 4,387 | 7,245 | |
| Kildare | 5,126 | 9,010 | |
| Kilkenny | 1,973 | 3,463 | |
| Laois | 2,419 | 4,446 | |
| Leitrim | 1,043 | 1,871 | |
| Limerick | 5,566 | 9,918 | |
| Longford | 1,653 | 3,139 | |
| Louth | 5,040 | 8,949 | |
| Mayo | 3,745 | 6,868 | |
| Meath | 4,553 | 8,036 | |
| Monaghan | 1,725 | 3,208 | |
| Offaly | 2,364 | 4,279 | |
| Roscommon | 1,616 | 3,119 | |
| Sligo | 1,849 | 3,316 | |
| Tipperary | 4,717 | 8,449 | |
| Waterford | 3,989 | 6,893 | |
| Westmeath | 2,766 | 4,884 | |
| Wexford | 5,200 | 9,065 | |
| Wicklow | 3,578 | 6,104 | |
| Total | 126,594 | 223,050 |
The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance provides a once-off payment to eligible families towards the cost of school clothing and footwear.
The allowance paid for each eligible child aged 4 - 11 years on or before 30th September 2023 is €160 while an allowance of €285 is paid for each eligible child aged 12 - 22 years on or before 30th September 2024. Students aged between 18 - 22 years must be returning to full-time second-level education in a recognised school or college in the autumn of 2024 to retain an entitlement to payment.
The Department is providing dedicated phone lines 071-9193318 and 0818-11-11-13 to answer enquiries relating to the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance during usual business hours Monday to Friday from 9.00am to 5.00pm. People can also email the Department at bscfa@welfare.ie if they have an enquiry regarding their application or entitlement.
The closing date to apply for this year’s Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance is 30th September 2024.
Further information on the eligibility criteria for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance is available at www.gov.ie/bscfa.