Every Child Is Your Child is a Limerick-based community group which aims to raise funds for parents living in Direct Provision.
They’re currently running a backpack drive across Ireland to collect school items for children living in Direct Provision.
They write:
“This is a backpack drive for young school goers living in direct provision. We are collecting stationery items, copies, uniform items for all ages (white / blue shirts, black / grey / navy trousers, white/red/ blue golf t-shirts, shoes / runners, gift cards ( One4All, Tesco, Dunnes, etc), new backpacks/school bags, lunch bags, boxes, reusable water/juice bottles.
“There are currently over 2000 children living in the direct provision system in Ireland. Parents struggle to meet the expenses associated with back to school expenses as majority have been excluded from availing of the right to work permit therefore forced to try to make ends meet on €38.80 per week.”
Every Child Is Your Child (Facebook)
What about other families who can’t afford this? What a slap in the face to them.
Actual whataboutery.
What about my cabbages?
hay. kids cost money! so have less kids. don’t be a career doley have 5 kids, spend the scratch and child allowance on booze and 3 sun holidays a year and them come back moaning about the cost of books.
Someone call NASA quick. Your moral ground is so high I’m just surprised you actually have oxygen to breathe up there. Comments like this are the reason no one likes you and it’s the reason everyone raises their eyes when you walk into a room.
That was, no question, your finest piece of work, Ron.
Touchy aren’t you. You probably hold the opinion that parents are free to spend their child welfare money any way they want,. and if they syphon off all of the child welfare money into other activities with no regard to their own child’s welfare then that’s their business too? If a parent doesn’t put away a few hundred quid over 52 weeks of payments (about 16% of the €1600 per child a year allowance) then its the heartless governments fault ? The same government that gave them the money in the first place? even though the parent chose to spend the same amount on annual school supply’s every 3 weeks instead spending the money on smokes.
At first, I thought this was outrageous as it suggests those children in direct provision don’t receive the funding to pay for the necessities of going back to school. In 2019, in Ireland, that would indeed be outrageous.
The facts are, however, every child in direct provision receives €29.80 a week. And remember, their accommodation, light, heat, laundry, food, medical and basic transport is already covered by the State. Adults in direct provision also receive a weekly allowance and 896 of the 5,000 in DP are in employment.
Every child in DP should be eligible for a uniform allowance from the Dept of Social Protection “The allowance paid for each eligible child aged 4-11 on or before 30 September 2019 is €150.00. The allowance paid for each eligible child aged 12-22 on or before 30 September 2019 is €275.00.”
I know school uniforms can be a rip-off, with the average cost for primary school being €95 according to Barnardos, but shouldn’t the uniform allowance cover that?
As for other essentials, stationery etc, isn’t that supposed to be purchased from the €29.80 a week allowance. Also many children in DP have parents who also receive an allowance and 1/5th of them are now also working.
I don’t think anyone is saying DP is not a limbo existence but it seems to some people that asylum seekers are exploiting a perception that isn’t really justified, and such exploitation has consequences including building up resentment and building up a reluctance to offer sympathy when there are indeed legitimate griecvances.
THUD.
“More than three quarters of parents (78%) say the cost of Back to School is a financial burden. This is a significant increase on 67% in 2018. Parents getting children ready for secondary school are spending €1,399 per child. This is up €20 on the €1,379 being spent last year. Parents of primary school children are however spending less; €949 this year compared to €999 last year (€50 decrease). ”
https://www.enniscorthycu.ie/back-to-school-costs-2019/
€1399
-275
-(29.80*4) 4 weeks of saving their allowance.
=
€1004.80
Still a lot of money.
Barnado’s say the primary school cost is around €400.
I’d be surprised if asylum seekers were asked for a voluntary contribution.
Aren’t there other supports for books?
With a €150 uniform allowance, I think you’re looking at maybe a week’s child allowance.
https://www.barnardos.ie/news/2018/august/barnardos-school-costs-survey-2018-2-200-parents-say-enough-is-enough
That’s not to say it’s not hard, but those in DP should maybe choose their battles a little better.
Eoin I can’t believe you don’t rate Enniscorthy Credit Union’s research!
Shure, they probably think a necessary back to school expense is a €6k all inclusive mid-term cruise in the Carribbean :-)
No, it’s just Barnardo’s gave a breakdown, that’s why I used their figures, I couldn’t find anything other than a total from the CU.
Eh anyway… Im just back from Easons, buying my son’s school books. I bought an extra pack of copies and tomorrow I will buy some new socks and boxers in Penneys, then drop them all in to this place.
School sure has changed. I wish I had been allowed show up to school wearing just my underpants and socks back in the day! Kids these days!
Fair play.
Fair play Bobby.