Back-to-school allowance applications up by over 25% [IrishTimes]
- Published: 15 October 2010
APPLICATIONS FOR the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance have increased by over 25 per cent on last year and have doubled over the last five years, new figures show.
Almost 185,000 applications were received for the means-tested grant this year, and over €75 million has been paid out. Up to €13 million more may have to be paid out before all applications are settled. The average grant per application, which may include more than one child, has so far been almost €500.
The figures show applications increased by over 37,000 on 2008 and have doubled since 2006, when just over 87,000 applications were received.
Almost 160,000 of the claims have been paid, and a further 25,000 approved claims are awaiting payment.
The highest numbers of applications, over 64,000, were received from the Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow region. So far payments of €25 million have been made to almost 54,000 of those.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
