Wicklow Sinn Féin TD John Brady has raised concern over delays in the processing of the Back to School Clothing & Footwear Allowance.
TD Brady — who is Sinn Féin’s Spokesperson on Employment Affairs and Social Protection — said payment delays may “force parents into taking out high interest risky loans”.
“I have been contacted by parents in absolute panic at the fact that they are yet to receive the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance payment.
“We are just over two weeks away from back to school and parents are struggling with the enormous costs involved.”
Wicklow Sinn Féin TD John Brady.
The department’s processing team are dealing with applications received on July 6th and are manually processing up to 50,000 applications, according to Brady.
He continued: “Parents have no idea what is going on and they have no idea when they will receive their payment. The only option being left to them is to seek high interest and high risk loans.
Last week, TD Brady contacted Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection Regina Doherty for clarity on the situation, but is yet to receive a response.
“There is no excuse for delays to these payments, this is the busiest time of year for parents, the Minister knew this and clearly failed to put the necessary resources in place on time.”
