{"id":487476,"date":"2026-06-07T11:50:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T11:50:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/487476\/"},"modified":"2026-06-07T11:50:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T11:50:20","slug":"social-welfare-ireland-thousands-more-now-eligible-for-e160-payment-as-applications-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/487476\/","title":{"rendered":"Social welfare Ireland: Thousands more now eligible for \u20ac160 payment as applications open"},"content":{"rendered":"

The expansion of scheme means that an estimated 37,000 more children will qualify for the payment this year \u2014 and applications are now open\"Euro<\/p>\n

The Department of Social Protection said more than 109,000 families will receive the allowance automatically in July, covering almost 202,000 children(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Applications for the 2026 Back-to-School Clothing and Footwear Allowance, which supported more than 144,000 families with school expenses last year, have now opened.<\/p>\n

The Back-to-School Clothing and Footwear Allowance offers a one-off payment to qualifying families to assist with the expense of school uniforms and footwear.<\/p>\n

The programme has been expanded this year to encompass children aged 2 and 3 for the first time. Due to this expansion, roughly 37,000 additional children are anticipated to be eligible for the allowance this year.<\/p>\n

The payment rate for 2026 stands at \u20ac160 for children aged 2-11 and \u20ac285 for children aged 12 years and above attending second-level education.<\/p>\n

Most payments will be issued automatically without requiring an application form. Back-to-School Clothing and Footwear Allowance will be automatically paid to over 109,000 families covering nearly 202,000 children during the week commencing July 13, reports RSVP Live<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Euro<\/p>\n

Under the scheme, eligible families will receive \u20ac160 for children aged between two and 11, and \u20ac285 for children aged 12 and over in second-level education<\/p>\n

The Department of Social Protection is currently processing these payments, with customers receiving confirmation regarding their automatic entitlement via their MyWelfare account or through the post. This will see more than \u20ac42 million distributed to these families during the week starting July 13.<\/p>\n

Families who don’t receive notification from the Department regarding an automated payment should submit an application online at www.MyWelfare.ie, even if they obtained a payment last year. Online applications are available from today, Wednesday, June 3.<\/p>\n

The Back-to-School Clothing and Footwear Allowance delivers a one-off payment to qualifying families to assist with meeting the expense of school attire and footwear.<\/p>\n

You may qualify for Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance if:<\/p>\n

You have a child between 2 and 17 or between 18 and 22 in secondary educationYou are getting a qualifying payment from this Department or an approved training course or employment scheme.You are getting a Child Support Payment (applies in most cases).You satisfy a means test.<\/p>\n

In 2025, more than 144,000 families received support from the Back-to-School Clothing and Footwear Allowance (BSCFA) scheme in relation to over 256,000 children at an expenditure of \u20ac55.4m.<\/p>\n

The payment rates for the 2026 BSCFA scheme stand at \u20ac160 for children aged 2-11 years on or before September 30, 2026 and \u20ac285 for children aged 12-22 years on or before September 30, 2026.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance (BSCFA) is a payment to help families with the cost of school uniforms and shoes<\/p>\n

Students aged between 18 and 22 years must be returning to full-time second-level education in a recognised school or college in the autumn of 2026 to maintain an entitlement to payment.<\/p>\n

Applications for the 2026 scheme launched on Wednesday (June 3), and will conclude on September 30, 2026.<\/p>\n

Speaking about the scheme, Minister Calleary said: “I know that the costs for going back to school or preschool can place real pressure on families.<\/p>\n

“That is why I am particularly pleased that, with the support of my colleague Minister Norma Foley, we are extending the Back-to-School Clothing and Footwear Allowance to include 2 and 3-year-olds for the first time. This means thousands more families across the country will receive practical support at a time when it matters most”.<\/p>\n

Want to see more of the stories you love from the Irish Mirror? Making us your preferred source on Google<\/a> means you\u2019ll get more of our exclusives, top stories and must-read content straight away. To add Irish Mirror as a preferred source, simply click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The expansion of scheme means that an estimated 37,000 more children will qualify for the payment this year…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370862,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43,11258],"class_list":["post-487476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-social-welfare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=487476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487476\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=487476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=487476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=487476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}