BUDGET 2016: Budget ‘no impact’ on cost of education

Parents may see improvements in their children’s classrooms but Budget 2016 has done little or nothing to ease the cost of educating them, says the Society of St Vincent de Paul.

The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance (BSCFA) will remain next year at half the amount it was in 2011 for younger children.

While Social Protection Minister Joan Burton is allocating €9 million less than this year’s €44.3m for the scheme, as fewer families are qualifying, the SVP said she should spend the saving on increased rates, widened eligibility, or both.