Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance
- What is the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance?
- Who can get the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance?
- Rate of Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance
- How to apply for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance
- Contact the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance section
What is the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance?
The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance (BSCFA) is a payment that can help with the cost of uniforms and footwear for children going to school.
The BSCFA scheme opens in June 2023. The closing date for applications is 30 September 2023.
The BSCFA is paid automatically to many families. If you are paid automatically, you don't need to apply for the BSCFA. The DSP will let you know if you are paid automatically using your MyWelfare account, or by post, before the end of June 2023.
Who can get the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance?
You may get the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance (BSCFA), if you have a child that qualifies and you are:
- Getting a qualifying social welfare payment or participating in an approved employment, education or training support scheme. You can find a list of qualifying payments and schemes.
- Your household is within the BSCFA income limit. See ‘Income limits’ below.
- You and each child you are claiming the BSCFA for is resident in Ireland.
If you are getting a social welfare payment, you must be getting an Increase for a Qualified Child (IQC) with your payment. There are some exceptions to this, for example:
- You are getting a qualifying social welfare payment, but you are not getting an increase for your child because the rules of the payment do not provide for a child payment. Maternity Benefit and Adoptive Benefit are examples of this. You can still claim BSCFA if you meet the other BSCFA rules.
- You are getting a qualifying social welfare payment, but you are not getting an increase for your child because your spouse or partner's income is over the specified limit for your payment. You can still claim BSCFA if your overall household income is within the BSCFA income limits. See ‘Income limits’ below.
What children qualify?
To get the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance, your child must be:
- Aged between 4-17 on 30 September - the year you are applying for BSCFA
- 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 are applying for BSCFA
You cannot claim BSCFA for a child who is not resident in the State.
Foster children do not qualify for the BSCFA because the financial support foster parents get from Tusla (Foster Care Allowance) includes help with the cost of clothing and footwear for the child.
Income limits
Your total household income must be less than the amounts set out in the 'Weekly income limits' table below. All your dependent children are counted when the income limit is applied (including children who do not qualify for BSCFA because they are aged under 4).
Your total household income includes your main social welfare or Health Service Executive payment and any other income you may have including wages (before tax, but it excludes PRSI and a standard travel allowance of up to €20 per week), maintenance, savings and investments.
Savings and investments (including property, but not your home) are assessed as follows:
| Capital | Weekly means assessed |
|---|---|
| First €5,000 | not taken into account |
| Next €10,000 | €1 per €1,000 |
| Next €25,000 | €2 per €1,000 |
| Balance | €4 per €1,000 |
Any income you get from Child Benefit, Rent Supplement or another SWA income supplement, Working Family Payment, guardian's payments, Blind Welfare Allowance, Rehabilitation Training Allowance, rehabilitative employment (up to €165 per week), Domiciliary Care Allowance , Mobility Allowance and the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is not counted.
| Number of children | Income limit |
|---|---|
| 1 child | €642 |
| 2 children | €692 |
| 3 children | €742 |
| 4 children | €792* |
*The income limit is increased by €50 for each additional dependent child.
Rate of Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance
In 2023, the BSCFA paid for each eligible child aged 4-11 on 30 September 2023 is €260.
In 2023, the BSCFA paid for each eligible child aged 12-22 on 30 September is €385. Children 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 2023.
How to apply for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance
The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance (BSCFA) scheme will open in June 2023. The closing date for applications will be 30 September 2023.
The BSCFA is paid automatically to many families. If you are paid automatically, you don't need to apply for the BSCFA. The DSP will let you know if you are paid automatically using your MyWelfare account, or by post, before the end of June 2023.
If you are not paid automatically, you can apply for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance online at MyWelfare.ie when the scheme opens.
You cannot apply for the BSCFA until the scheme opens in June.
If you have applied for a social welfare payment and are waiting for a decision on your application or have appealed a decision not to award you a social welfare payment, you should apply for the BSCFA before the scheme closes. Your BSCFA will be decided when you get a decision on your application or appeal.
Appealing a Back to School Clothing and Footwear decision
You cannot appeal a decision on your BSCFA application to the Social Welfare Appeals Office.
If you are unhappy with the decision on your BSCFA application, you should send a letter to the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance Review Section at the address below setting out why you are not happy with the decision and asking that the application be reviewed.
You should request a review within 21 days of getting your decision.
Contact the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance section