Social welfare Ireland: Over 126,000 families to receive Back to School Allowance this week
The majority of payments will be paid automatically with no application form required
Over 120,000 families across the country will receive the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance from today.
The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance is a once-off payment made to eligible families to assist them with the cost of sending their children back to school. The rate of payment for 2024 is €160 for children aged 4 - 11 and €285 for children aged 12 years and over in second-level education.
Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys TD, has announced that payments totalling over €47.5 million will be made this week to over 126,000 families, in respect of over 223,000 children.
READ MORE: Thousands qualify for €429 weekly payment as rules change on income
The majority of payments will be paid automatically with no application form required. The Department of Social Protection is currently processing these payments and recipients will receive confirmation informing them of their automatic entitlement, on their MyWelfare account or by post.
Families who do not receive notification from the Department of an automated payment should make an application online here even if they received a payment last year.
Commenting on the payments, Minister Humphreys said: “This scheme is so important in terms of supporting parents in meeting their back-to-school costs over the coming weeks.
“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 Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance remains open for applications until September 30 and eligible families are being encouraged to apply.
To qualify for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance, you must meet the following criteria:
- Be receiving a qualifying social welfare payment or participating in an approved employment, education, or training support scheme.
- Your household income must fall within the BSCFA income limit.
- You and the child you're claiming the allowance for must be residents of Ireland.
- If you're receiving a social welfare payment, make sure you're also receiving an Increase for a Qualified Child (IQC) with your payment.
Decisions on these cases will be processed manually and if entitled payment will issue once they are processed. Further information on the eligibility criteria for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance is available here.
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 |
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