I propose to take Questions Nos. 636 to 641, inclusive, together.
The school meals programme provides funding towards the provision of food to some 1,580 schools and organisations benefitting 250,000 children at a total cost of €57.6 million in 2019 representing an increase of €3.6 million over the previous year. The objective of the scheme is to provide regular, nutritious food to children who are unable, due to lack of good quality food, to take full advantage of the education provided to them. The programme is an important component of policies to encourage school attendance and extra educational achievement.
In recent years entry to the School Meals Scheme has been confined to DEIS schools in addition to schools identified as having levels of concentrated disadvantage that would benefit from access to the School Meals Programme. In the 2017/2018 academic year there were 1,214 schools benefitting from the scheme; 367 of these schools do not have DEIS status.
Participation in the scheme is entirely voluntary with the onus being on the individual eligible schools to make an application. Schools and organisations must reapply for funding in advance of each school year and are required to submit detailed records at the end of the school year. Funding is based on a rate of payment per meal, per child, per day. The maximum rates of payment and examples of food to be provided are contained in the following tabular statement.
Nutrition Standards for School Meals were published in September 2017 under the auspices of Healthy Ireland, Safefood and the HSE. The Standards are mandatory from the 2018/2019 funding year and organisations will be required to provide evidence of full compliance with them as part of the application and inspection processes.
As part of Budget 2019, it was announced that DEASP would commence a pilot scheme from September 2019, providing Hot School Meals in 36 schools for an estimated 7,200 children at a cost of €1 million for 2019 and €2.5 million in a full year. The premise of the pilot is to take account of the fact that the majority of schools don't have kitchen/canteen facilities and that the food be prepared off-site in such instances. Issues relating to capital expenditure within schools is a matter for the Department of Education and Skills. The focus on the pilot will be on primary schools and currently there are no plans to extend it to youth services, early years settings and after-school programmes.
I trust that this clarifies the position.
Tabular Statement - School Meals Food Clubs Rates of Payment
Meal
|
Max Rate of Payment (per child per day)
|
Minimum number of food items
|
Examples f Food to be Provided
|
Breakfast/Snack
|
€0.60
|
2 items
|
1 serving of wholemeal/wholegrain cereal or bread PLUS 1 serving of fruit OR 1 serving of milk, yogurt or cheese
|
Lunch
|
€1.40
|
1 substantial item + 1 small item + a drink
|
Wholemeal/wholegrain sandwich or roll containing 1 serving meat, poultry, egg or cheese and 1 serving salad PLUS 1 serving fruit PLUS a drink (e.g. water, milk, unsweetened juice)
|
Dinner
|
€1.90
|
Hot meal + drink
|
1 serving meat, poultry, egg, beans PLUS 1 serving potatoes, pasta or rice PLUS 2 servings vegetables/fruit PLUS a drink (Milk, Water, Unsweetened Juice)
|