The School Meals Programme provides funding towards the provision of food services to some 1,600 schools and organisations benefitting 260,000 children. The objective of the programme is to provide regular, nutritious food to children to support them in taking full advantage of the education provided to them. The programme is an important component of policies to encourage school attendance and extra educational achievement.
Budget 2023 provided €94.4 million for the programme. The Government recently approved an additional €14.5m to allow access to the Hot School Meals scheme for all remaining DEIS schools from September 2023.
Funding under the school meals (local projects) scheme can be provided for breakfast, snack, cold lunch, dinner, hot school meals and afterschool clubs and is based on a maximum rate per child per day, depending on the type of meal being provided.
My Department provides the funding for the School Meals Programme directly to the school and it is the responsibility of each individual school to administer the programme in their school. This includes responsibility for ensuring all public procurement rules and obligations are followed in choosing a supplier and that HACCP, Food Safety regulations and the Nutritional Standards for School Meals are followed. My department has no role in terms of the procurement a provider or equipment associated with the delivery of the scheme within the school.
I trust this clarifies the matter.
