Back to School Allowance delays must be tackled – Seán Crowe, TD

Commenting on the mounting concerns that many families who have applied for
the Back to School Allowance may have to wait until late October before
receiving the grant, Sinn Féin’s Education Spokesperson Deputy Seán Crowe
said:

“Children, regardless of their social or economic background, have the
right to attend school in comfortable fitting clothing and in this time of
economic hardship it is essential that hard pressed families are assisted
in preparing their child for school.

“The current debacle around the processing of the Back to School Allowance
reflects a lack of planning and foresight on behalf of the government who
should have had the personnel in place to deal with the increased number of
applications.

“They could also have learnt from my party colleague, Caitríona Ruane, MLA,
who when Minister for Education in the North’s Assembly increased the
uniform allowance for parents in receipt of income support. By the end of
August 2009, there were 24,135 successful applications for the grant with
many more to follow and all of which were processed without undue delay.

“If Minister Quinn is serious about easing the financial burden faced by
parents attempting to send their child to primary school then he must do
all within his power to ensure the Back to School Allowance is paid on
time. This is vital in order to help parents met the spiralling cost of
sending their child to school at this time of year.”