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Cllr Andrew
McGuinness Here To Help… Not just at election time Constituency Office, O’Loughlin Road, Kilkenny 056 77 70672 cllrandrewmcguinness@gmail.com
Clothing a Allowance 2022
ack to School B ll a r fo ra t x e €100 ar payments this ye
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Cllr. Andrew s McGuinnes
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The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance (BTSCFA) helps you meet the cost of uniforms and footwear for children going to school. The BTSCFA scheme is open from 20th June 2022 until 30th September 2022. The BTSCFA will be paid automatically to many families in the week beginning 11 July 2022. If you are paid automatically you don’t have to apply for the BTSCFA. You will get a letter before 20th June 2022 to let you know that you will be paid automatically. The additional €100 will be paid later in August. If you haven’t got a letter by 20th June 2022, you must apply for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance online visit mywelfare.ie or your local social welfare office.
Rules You may qualify for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance if you are: • Getting a social welfare payment (including Working Family Payment, Back to Work Family Dividend and Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment) or a Health Service Executive payment, or • Taking part in an approved employment scheme (back to work scheme) or • Taking part in a recognised education or training course, or • Getting a Daily Expenses Allowance (formerly called Direct Provision Allowance) for a child in education (or for yourself if you are 18-22 and returning to full-time second-level education), or • Involved in an Area Partnership Scheme, or • Attending a FET (formerly Fás) or Fáilte Ireland training course Your child must be aged between 4-17 on 30th September. If they are aged between 18-22, they must be returning to full-time second-level education in a recognised school or college in the autumn of the year your are applying.
In general, you must be getting an Increase for a Qualified Child (IQC) with your payment. There are some exceptions to this. For example, you may be getting a qualifying payment but you are not getting an increase for your child (because the rules of the scheme do not provide for a child payment) – Maternity Benefit, Adoptive Benefit and the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment are examples. You can still claim BTSCFA if you satisfy the other criteria. You may qualify for BTSCFA, if you are not getting an IQC because your spouse or partner’s income is over the specified limit for your payment, but your overall household income is within the BTSCFA limits. You cannot claim BTSCFA for a child who is not resident in the State. Foster children are not eligible for the BTSCFA because the financial support parents get from Tusla – the Child and Family Agency (Foster Care Allowance) includes help with the cost of clothing and footwear for the child. Note that if you have applied for a social welfare payment, or have appealed a decision not to award you a social welfare payment and are waiting for a decision on your application, you should apply for the BTSCFA before the scheme closes. Your entitlement to the BTSCFA will be decided when you get a decision on your application or appeal.
Income limits To qualify for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance, your total household income must be less than the amounts set out in the table below. All your dependent children are taken into account for the income limits (including children who do not qualify for BTSCFA because they are aged under 4).
How much is it?
and any other income you may have including wages (before tax, but excluding PRSI and a standard travel allowance of up to €20 per week), maintenance, savings and investments.
This year, Fianna Fáil increased the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance by €100 for each eligible child under the scheme. The new rates are below.
Savings and investments (including property, but not your home) are assessed as follows:
Child aged 4–11 - €260
SAVINGS AND INVESTMENTS ASSESSMENT 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
Child aged 12 and over - €385
What is the deadline for applications? The deadline for applications is the 30th of September.
How do I apply?
Any income you get from Child Benefit, Rent Supplement or other income supplement, Working Family Payment, guardian’s payments, Blind Welfare Allowance, Rehabilitation Training Allowance, rehabilitative employment (up to €140 per week), Domiciliary Care Allowance , Mobility Allowance and the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is not counted.
Applications can be made online via welfare.ie using your mygov.ie or at your local social welfare office.
Reviews If you are unhappy with the decision on your 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 claim be reviewed. You should request a review within 21 days of getting your decision.
WEEKLY INCOME LIMITS FOR COUPLES 2022 Couple
Income limit
1 child
€620
2 children
€668
3 children
€716
4 children
€764*
Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance Review Section
* The income limit is increased by €48 for each SCHOOL additional dependent child.
Social Welfare Services 1
Your total household income includes your main social welfare or Health Service Executive payment
AB
6
Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, College Road, Sligo, C
F91 T384