THE SOCIETY of St Vincent de Paul has seen a major increase in the number of people seeking help with the costs of sending children back to school.
Spokesman Stuart Kenny said that statistics from its Dublin regional head office showed 11,622 people contacted that office between January and July this year, compared with 8,418 for the same period last year, an increase of some 40 per cent.
Of those calling this year, more than 60 per cent were families with children, and 22 per cent (2,500 people) were first-time callers, which was an "alarming" figure, Mr Kenny said.
He said the Dublin office had witnessed a big rise in callers seeking help to pay the costs of school books and uniforms. Anecdotal evidence from the charity's offices elsewhere in the State supported this trend.
Mr Kenny said the charity was taking calls from people it had not heard from since 1999. The society started to see the start of an increase in those seeking assistance from last autumn, and warned that increasing unemployment would exacerbate the problem.
The society spent slightly over €3 million on education-related assistance last year. However, Mr Kenny forecast that it would spend around €3.5 million on school-related aid this year.
He added that the society was also calling for a "significant increase" in the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance.
Parents can at present obtain €200 for each child eligible between the age of two and 11, and €305 for each eligible child between 12 and 22.
However, Mr Kenny said research carried out by children's charity Barnardos found that €375 and €405 was required to fund the basic costs of sending children back to school.
He pointed out that, apart from having to pay for uniforms and books, parents sending children back to school had to pay for other expenses such as compulsory gym footwear, photocopying and stationery costs, and voluntary contributions to the school.
This month Barnardos called on the Government to make the income thresholds set for the back-to-school allowance the same as those applicable to family income supplement and for the same limits to apply to all households - those headed by two parents and lone-parent families.
The back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance is available to parents of families who receive a social welfare payment, a Health Service Executive payment, family income supplement or who participate in approved employment or training schemes.
The Department of Social and Family Affairs has allocated €46 million to meet back-to-school costs. It is expected that up to 190,000 primary and post-primary pupils will benefit from the scheme this year.
