To ask the Minister of Education, further to the review of the eligibility criteria for free school meals and uniform grants, whether he will also review the current quantum of uniform grant payments.

The school uniform grant is available to offer financial support to low-income families as a contribution towards the costs of school uniforms. The EA raised its school uniform grant rates by 20% in 2022/23 following an additional allocation of funding by the previous Minister of Education and this has been maintained at this level.

Severe budgetary pressures mean that it has not been possible to allocate any additional funding to the EA to implement a further rise in the rates of uniform grant for the 2024/25 academic year. I will keep this under consideration in terms of the budget for 2025/26.

While I would wish to be in a position to allocate additional funding to the EA to enable a rise in the uniform grant, this can only be done when it is affordable to do so.