Parents and guardians in Kilkenny should apply now for the Back to School Allowance

Parents and guardians should apply now for the 2023 Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance which now includes an extra €100 support for families bidding to meet ongoing cost of living challenges, Fine Gael TD, John Paul Phelan, has urged.

Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys TD, has opened applications for the 2023 Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance. It provides a once-off payment to eligible families towards the cost of school clothing and footwear.

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The rates of payment for 2023 have been increased by €100 per child to €260 for children aged 4 - 11 and to €385 for children aged 12 years and over in second level education.

This is a welcome boost for families who typically come under financial pressure at this critical time of the year.

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.

People also have the choice of emailing the Department at bscfa@welfare.ie if they have an enquiry regarding their application or entitlement.

Deputy Phelan stated that although the closing date to apply for this year’s Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance is 30th September 2023 he would encourage those who feel they are eligible to make their application now.

"Further information on the eligibility criteria for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance is available at www.gov.ie/bscfa and I would encourage families to have a look now," he added.

The majority of payments will be paid automatically with no application form required. Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance will be paid automatically to more than 120,000 families in respect of approximately 210,000 children during the week beginning 10th July.

The Department of Social Protection is currently processing these payments and customers will receive confirmation informing them of their automatic entitlement, on their MyWelfare account or by post. This will result in approximately €70 million being paid to these families during the week beginning 10th July.

Families who do not receive notification from the Department of an automated payment should make an application online on www.MyWelfare.ie even if they received a payment last year.

Online applications can be made from today, Thursday, 8th June.