Families with children aged 2-3 can now qualify as the €160 rate is extended to this age group, with payments up to €285 available
The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance is a once-off social welfare payment made to eligible families to assist them with the cost of sending their children back to school(Image: Getty Images)
The opening date for a social welfare payment worth up to €285 per child has been confirmed.
The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance scheme is open from June 1 to September 30 annually.
This initiative is designed to help parents with the expenses of sending their children back to school in September.
More than €54 million was allocated for last year’s scheme, which benefited more than 114,000 families across Ireland, in respect of approximately 197,000 children
There are changes to this year’s payment as more people will qualify. The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance rate of €160 will be extended to eligible children aged 2 and 3, reports RSVP Live.
Here’s everything you need to know.
What is the Back To School Clothing and Footwear Allowance?
The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance is a one-off, means-tested payment aimed at assisting families with the extra costs of clothing and footwear when children return to school each autumn.
Minister for Social Protection, Dara Calleary(Image: Collins)
How to qualify
To be eligible for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance, you must meet certain criteria:
you must be getting a qualifying social protection payment or participating in an approved employment, education or training support schemeyou must be getting Child Support Payment (previously known as Increase for a Qualified Child) in respect of each child for whom the allowance is being claimed (except in certain circumstances)each child being claimed for must be aged between 4 and 17 or aged between 18 and 22, and returning to second-level education in the autumnthe assessable income for your household must be within a set income limityou and each child in respect of whom the allowance is claimed must be resident in the StateHow much is the Back To School Clothing and Footwear Allowance?
For children aged 2-11, the rate is €160, while for children aged 12-22 the rate is €285.
Children between the ages of 18 and 22 must be in secondary education to qualify.
How to apply
Many people will receive the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance payment automatically through a matching process in The Department of Social Protection. Award notifications are sent to your MyWelfare account or by post in June each year.
If you haven’t received a notification for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance by the end of June, and you meet the qualifying conditions, you’ll need to apply, even if you’ve received the payment automatically in previous years.
The quickest and easiest way to apply is online at MyWelfare.ie. The online application is open from June to September each year.
The cut-off date to apply for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance is 30 September of the scheme year.
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