John Brady
Question:27. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Social Protection the amount his Department spends annually on the school meals programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8703/17]
View answerTuesday, 21 February 2017
Questions (27)
Oral answers (7 contributions)
How much will the Minister's Department spend this year on the school meals programme in light of the cuts he has made to the programme for this school term?
The school meals programme provides funding towards the provision of food to schools and organisations benefiting over 200,000 children at a total cost of some €47.7 million during 2017. For the current academic year, 2016-2017, a total of €44 million has been allocated to schools under the scheme.
Funding for the scheme was increased this year, as part of budget 2017, by an additional €5.7 million, which is a 14% increase on the previous year’s allocation. It will benefit approximately 50,000 children. The allocation for the scheme has significantly increased over a series of budgets from €35 million in 2012 to the current allocation of €47.7 million, which is an increase of 35% since 2012.
During this period, priority for new applications for funding has been given to schools that are part of the DEIS programme. From September 2016 additional funding is being provided to DEIS schools already participating in the scheme to provide breakfast and lunch to a majority of pupils. In addition, a further 21 DEIS schools have joined the scheme this academic year.
Budget 2017 also provides for the inclusion in the scheme, from September 2017, of another 80 schools that are not currently part of DEIS but have recently been deemed as requiring support in the recently launched DEIS plan, which was launched by the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton, in recent days. There is also some provision towards the extension of the scheme to breakfast clubs in non-DEIS schools. That will kick in from September 2017, which will be the first time in many years that increased payments are provided to schools outside of DEIS. I have particular interest in doing that because the majority of children who suffer disadvantage do not actually attend DEIS schools but attend other schools. Priority will be provided to those schools where there is most need.
I have been contacted by a primary school principal at a DEIS school who accidentally discovered that the school meals programme has been cut and that by May there will not be enough funding to carry the school through to the end of the year. That principal only found out that the funding had been cut on contacting the Department when a number of additional pupils were taken into the school. The principal contacted the Department to see if additional funding could be obtained and was told there will be no such funding and that the school will only get 90% of the funding it received the previous year. It is alarming that the Department did not notify the school that the school meals programme was going to be cut. On foot of that, I contacted a number of other principals in DEIS schools who subsequently contacted the Department to be told they also will only get 90% of the funding they got last year. What are principals in those schools supposed to do when the funding dries up in May? Will the Minister go into the schools and select the 10% of kids in the schools who will not get fed? What will the Minister do?
I do not know why that is the case. If the Deputy wants to give me the names of the schools now, that is fine. If not, he can give them to me afterwards. Overall, the funding provided for the scheme was increased substantially by the former Minister, Deputy Burton, and was increased again for this year so I do not understand why that is the case. I am not saying it is not the case but if the Deputy wants to give me the details of the schools, I will have the matter examined.
I appreciate that and I will pass on the details but it is not an isolated incident. Principals are only now being informed of this. They are not being notified, they only find out when they contact the Department and are informed that they will only get 90% of the funding they received in previous years. Schools are facing into serious difficulties. I refer to the DEIS schools in this regard. Funding for schoolchildren in some of the most deprived areas in the State will run out at the end of May. There will be at least a month when there will be no funding whatsoever in place. I welcome the fact that the Minister has taken 21 additional DEIS schools into the programme. Is there sufficient funding in place to ensure that each of those schools will get 100% funding as they did in the previous year? The crux of the problem is that the Minister or the Department has extended this but has not ensured that all schools are getting 100% funding. If this is clarified and a problem is identified, will the Minister ensure that every school will get 100% funding so that no schoolchild will go hungry when the funding runs out at the end of May?
We do not anticipate an underspend or an overspend in this area so the funding is there. When it comes to the additional funding being provided to the DEIS schools participating in the scheme, the provision is for breakfast and lunch for up to 90% of children. That has been the case for quite some time. It is not a change or cutback in any way. That has been the case, as far as I can see, regarding to the additional funding but also prior to that.
Will the Minister ensure that there is 100% funding? That is the question I asked.