David Stanton
Question:173 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she has satisfied herself with the administration of the school meal scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30875/04]
View answerThursday, 25 November 2004
Questions (175)
Written answers
The school meals programme operated by my Department gives funding towards provision of food services for disadvantaged school children through two schemes. One of these is the statutory urban school meals scheme currently operated by 35 local authorities. The Department jointly funds the food costs with these local authorities which also manage and fund the administration of the scheme. The second is the school meals — local projects — scheme, through which ongoing funding is provided by my Department to a number of individual schools and voluntary community groups in both urban and rural areas for specific school meals projects. This has recently been expanded to include pre-schools that are community based and which operate on a not-for-profit basis.
In the case of these local projects, my Department funds the food costs, based on a rate per meal per child. The type and range of meals provided, as well as the method and logistics of supplying the meals, are decided by the individual local groups and schools that operate the projects.
The programme aims to provide regular nutritious food to children to help improve their daily diet. It is an important component of policies to encourage school attendance and extra educational achievement by the children, particularly those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds. In general, I am satisfied with the administration of the school meals scheme, although I recognise that given the range of authorities and voluntary groups involved in delivering meal facilities, some variations can occur in the services provided.
The Department of Education and Science is using its schools completion programme and Giving Children an Even Break initiative to encourage the introduction and extension of school meals projects and I expect to see further schools participating in the programme in the future.