Social welfare Ireland: Well over 100,000 families to get lump sum payment next month
Well over 100,000 families will see a lump sum in respect of each child paid out next month.
Applications opened this week for the Back To School Clothing and Footwear Allowance, but many people will see it land in their accounts automatically. The Back-to-School Clothing and Footwear Allowance provides a once-off payment to eligible families towards the cost of school clothing and footwear.
The rate of payment for 2025 is €160 for children aged 4-11 and €285 for children aged 12 years and over in second level education. The majority of payments will be paid automatically with no application required. The Back-to-School Clothing and Footwear Allowance will be paid automatically to more than 114,000 families in respect of approximately 197,000 children during the week beginning 14th July 2025.
The Department of Social Protection is currently processing these payments and families will receive confirmation informing them of their automatic entitlement on their MyWelfare account or by post. This will result in approximately €42 million being paid to these families during the week beginning 14th 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 Monday, 9th June.
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 during usual business hours Monday to Friday from 9.00am to 5.00pm. People also have the choice of emailing the Department at bscfa@welfare.ie if they have an enquiry regarding their application or entitlement. The closing date to apply for this year's Back-to-School Clothing and Footwear Allowance is 30th September 2025.
Commenting this week, Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary said: 'I am delighted to announce that the Back-to-School Clothing and Footwear Allowance for 2025 opens for applications today. I recognise the pressure that families are under in relation to back-to-school costs and have secured €54.4 million for the scheme this year.
'More than 75% of payments under this scheme will be paid without the need to make an application. My Department will issue automatic payments to more than 114,000 families in July and I would urge all families to check their eligibility for this important scheme.'
Further information on the eligibility criteria for the Back-to-School Clothing and Footwear Allowance is available at www.gov.ie/bscfa.
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