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Child Poverty

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 April 2013

Tuesday, 16 April 2013

Questions (564)

Sandra McLellan

Question:

564. Deputy Sandra McLellan asked the Minister for Social Protection in view of the fact that recent Central Statistics Office figures show more children are living in or at risk of consistent poverty, if she plans to extend the school meal programme to all primary schools in the State; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16037/13]

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Written answers

The school meals programme provides funding towards the provision of food services for disadvantaged children through two schemes. The first is the statutory urban school meals scheme, operated by local authorities and part-financed by this Department. The second is the school meals local projects scheme through which funding is provided directly to participating schools and local and voluntary community groups who run their own school meals projects. Expenditure on the school meals programme in 2012 was €35 million. The Government has allocated an additional €2 million for the programme in 2013.

There are currently over 1,300 schools and organisations benefiting from the programme, of which over 750 are primary schools.

Priority for funding under the programme is given to schools which are part of the Department of Education and Skill’s initiative for disadvantaged schools, ‘Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools’ (DEIS). The Department has written to approximately 170 DEIS schools currently not in the scheme at present, which includes primary and second level schools, requesting expressions of interest in participating in the scheme for the coming school year.

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