Many families may be looking to take advantage of government support schemes to help them meet their back to school costs.

According to the Irish Examiner, more than 1,700 households a day are applying for aid from the state.

In the first three weeks since the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance was opened on July 1st, the Department of Social Protection received 40,500 applications.

Changes to the way the programme is run this year, which mean many families will not have to make a new application if they have received aid in the past, meant 127,000 automatic payments were also authorised by the end of June.

The scheme allows families to claim up to 200 euros for children in primary school and 305 euros for those in second-level education to help meet the costs of buying school supplies.

It may be of great benefit to many families, as a recent survey carried out by Bank of Ireland in partnership with Schooldays.ie found 77 per cent of parents believe school uniforms are too expensive.

Written by Donal Walsh
 

Comments