THOUSANDS of families are set for a major boost as a huge social welfare payment is set to land in their accounts within hours.
Minister for Social Protection, Dara Calleary, has announced that over 126,000 families will receive the Back-to-School Clothing and Footwear Allowance from TODAY.
The payment is designed to support eligible families with the cost of school uniforms and footwear ahead of the upcoming school term.
There are two rates of payment for the scheme, which are €160 for children aged 4 to 11 and €285 for children aged 12 years and over in second-level education.
The payments totalling more than a whopping €47,500,000 will be made this week to over 126,000 families with over 221,000 children.
They will be notified if an automated payment is sent to families by post or through their MyWelfare account on their official website.
Commenting on the boost for families, Calleary said: “I am delighted to announce that the Back-to-School Clothing and Footwear Allowance payments for 2025 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 221,000 children.”
For those who haven’t been notified or applied for the major boost, the scheme is also open for applications until September 30 for eligible families.
The payment will be issued once the application is processed and if eligible for it.
He 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.”
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ALLOWANCE
You can get the payment if you have a child that qualifies, and:
- You are getting a qualifying social welfare payment, or are participating in an approved employment, education or training support scheme. See a list of qualifying payments and schemes on Gov.ie
- Your household is within the BSCFA income limits (see ‘Income limits’ below)
- You and each child you claim the BSCFA for are residents in Ireland.
If you are getting a social welfare payment, you must be getting a Child Support Payment (previously called an Increase for a Qualified Child or IQC) with it, but there are some exceptions to this.
If you get a qualifying social welfare payment but don’t get a Child Support Payment, you can claim the payment if:
- The rules of your payment do not provide for a child payment (for example, Maternity Benefit and Adoptive Benefit), or
- Your spouse or partner’s income is over the specified limit for your payment, but your overall household income is within the BSCFA income limits.
However, you must meet the other rules to get a BSCFA.
Your child must be aged between 4-17 on 30 September in the year you apply, or aged between 18-22 and returning to full-time second-level education in a recognised school or college in the autumn of the year you apply.
And your child must be a resident in Ireland.
HOUSEHOLD INCOME
Your total household income must be less than the amounts set out in the table below.
The total household income includes:
- Your weekly social welfare or Health Service Executive payments, and
- Any other income you may have, including wages
- Capital (such as savings, investments, and any property you have excluding your own home)
When your income is assessed from your wages, the department looks at your income before it’s taxed, but they don’t include PRSI and a standard travel allowance of up to €20 a week.
However, some social welfare payments are not included in the means test.
Payments not included in the means test include child benefits, rent supplements, working family payments, higher-level education grants, blind welfare allowances, and so on.
All capital is assessed in the means test, including savings, investments, shares and property that’s not your own home.
The income limit is increased by €62 for each additional dependent child.
