School meals to be extended over Summer period
Applications open for Back to School Allowance
The School Meals Programme is being extended to cover the summer holidays.
The Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys, made the announcement today. She said she wanted to reassure parents and school authorities that this vital support will remain in place during the school recess.
Funding under the School Meals Programme is normally confined to the academic year, but an exception has been made this summer in recognition of COVID-19.
This extension will ensure that participating primary and secondary schools can provide food parcels benefiting thousands of pupils over the summer months.
Furthermore, Minister Humphreys has confirmed that funding from her Department will be made available to schools participating in the Department of Education’s School Based Education Programme, which focusses on pupils with complex special educational needs those at risk of education disadvantage.
Back to School allowance
Minister Humphreys has also today opened applications for the Back To School Clothing and Footwear Allowance, which last year supported 111,000 families.
Overall, over €118 million is today being provided today through these three important schemes.
Minister Humphreys made the announcements as she visited St Daigh’s National School in Inniskeen, Co Monaghan.
Minister Humphreys commented: “I am pleased to extend the funding for the School Meals Programme to schools throughout the summer holidays. This will ensure that thousands of children from every county will continue to receive a healthy and nutritious meal every day."
She heard first hard from the pupils of St Daigh’s primary school in Inniskeen and Principal Tomás Mac Giollachomáin, the benefits of the School Meals Programme for their school and their experience of the scheme.
“Extending the funding for the School Meals Programme during school closures over the past 12 months has provided certainty and security to the pupils, during what I know has been a very difficult time during a very unusual school year.”
The School Meals Programme provides funding towards the provision of food to some 1,506 schools and organisations benefitting 230,000 children.
Minister Humphreys also announced that her Department’s Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance scheme for 2021 opens for applications today (June 21). 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 allowance paid for each eligible child aged four to 11 years on or before September 30, 2021, is €150; while an allowance of €275 is paid for each eligible child aged 12 - 22 years on or before September 30, 2021. Students aged between 18 - 22 years must be returning to full-time second-level education in a recognised school or college in the autumn of 2021 to retain an entitlement to payment.
The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance will be paid automatically to some 111,000 families in respect of approximately 204,000 children during the week beginning July 12.
The Department of Social Protection is currently processing these payments and customers will receive written confirmation by today, June 21, informing them of their automatic entitlement.
Families who do not receive notification from the Department of an automated payment today will need to make an application online on https://smex-ctp.trendmicro.com:443/wis/clicktime/v1/query?url=www.mywelfare.ie&umid=ac0486f5-65af-48de-8d24-691219e9bc35&auth=3851052a65d9657d2ab4c1fa657bb1ebb1940985-a778d7c9007437b607168ee7ae31dfe832367b9c even if they received a payment last year. Online applications can be made anytime from July 21.
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 9am- 5pm.
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 September 30, 2021.