All but €6m of 'back To school' scheme’s €39m allocation has already been spent

The Government could have to increase its budget for helping families with school costs as it has already spent all but €6m of its €39m allocation for the scheme.

More than 127,000 households have received payments of the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance so far this summer.

They include over 108,000 families who received allowances totalling €27m in mid-July as they qualified automatically for the support worth €100 for children of primary school ages and €200 for each older student.