The Society of St Vincent de Paul says free primary school books and free school transport has led to a drop in calls for help with back to school costs
For the second year in a row the charity has recorded a drop in back to school calls
The supports in place for parents of school going children, such as the extension of the child benefit payment for children up to the age of 19, is helping to reduce the strong demand for help from the charity
However Gerry Garvey of SVP told RedFM News he expects the demand for help to ramp up in the next week or two as other costs associated with school kick in.
"The first week back to school is kind of everyone just coping with the basis of getting uniform and starting getting people back into routine. Then about a week or ten days later, the after school activities and sports clubs all kick in. In a lot of cases, then you've got the extra educational costs, like the voluntary contributions from schools, which probably won't be pushed for another week or two."
