First back-to-school payments made

The Department of Social Protection has already paid out over two-thirds of its budget for helping families with back-to-school costs just six weeks after the €46m scheme opened.

Even before primary schools had closed in late June, it had over 18,500 applications from homes which did not automatically qualify. More than 5,729 claims were received last week alone, and just over half the 30,000 applications to date have been decided.

The department is this week paying €28.3m to 114,312 families who did not need to apply as they are already receiving one of a number of qualifying social welfare payments, a slight decrease on automatic payments made last year.