asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will amend existing legislation in order to enable children living in Dublin Corporation dwellings in the Dublin County Council area to be included in the school free meal scheme.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - School Meals Scheme.
13.
Extension of the school meals scheme is not contemplated at present.
Is the Minister aware that following the recent increase in building local authority dwellings on the perimeter of the city, a large number of corporation tenants are now living in council territory and, as a result, even though they pay rent to Dublin Corporation, their children are not eligible for free school meals and could he reinvestigate the matter and make some change in the legislation so that they would be entitled to free school meals?
Would it involve much change in the regulations?
So far as I can ascertain, it would require my amending the existing regulations to permit county borough councils to extend the scheme outside their boundaries or, alternatively, to permit county councils to apply the scheme in their areas, which would be a rather comprehensive provision.
Could the Minister not do it simply by making the pupils of the schools eligible, without extending the boundaries in any way?
The scheme at present is applied to county borough councils, urban district councils and town commissioners.
A very simple way of approaching this matter, in the Dublin area particularly, would be to permit all Dublin Corporation tenants to avail of the free school meals.
I do not think we could approach it in that way, really.
Is there any legislative obstacle to making this change?
Not really, except that it would bring in many people over a wide area.
What is wrong with that?
It would widen the scheme in many ways.
Would the cost be prohibitive?
It is a question of priorities as far as cost is concerned.
The Minister will admit that this is squabbling over a very fine line. They are barely over the line and they are deprived of school meals which are very important to them. It seems unfair that they should be so deprived. Would the Minister have another look at it?
Would the Minister not agree that it can mean a great deal to a family that their children should get a meal at school? Take as an example what the Government did in building Ballymun. That scheme is straddling the city boundary. Every tenant in Ballymun is a corporation tenant. All the schools in Ballymun are a few yards inside the council area. Because of that not one child in Ballymun gets free meals, regardless of the high rents being paid.
Would the Minister have another look at it?
I have had a look at it and will have another look at it.
Could the Minister consider extending the scheme to areas which are defined for census purposes as being suburbs of the city of Dublin or Dún Laoghaire or other towns or cities that come within the city at present? There is specific definition of suburban areas from a geographical point of view.
One would have to resort to some other definition than that used in the legislation already.
The Minister will look at that?