This is a Bill which proposes to carry out one of the recommendations of the Gaeltacht Commission, by extending to certain parts of the Gaeltacht the provisions of the earlier Acts of 1914 and 1917 relating to meals for school children. These Acts apply at the moment only in urban areas. The Gaeltacht Commission, in paragraph 63 of its report, said:
In many parts of the Gaeltacht, school children have to travel long distances over bleak country, and the hardships they thereby suffer, particularly in the winter time, are such as render them unfit to profit to the fullest extent by the education given. The Commission recommends that provision be made for a free meal each day in schools where the managers and teachers consider such provision advisable. No distinction whatever should be made in the case of any of the children in this matter.
The parts of the Gaeltacht included in the Schedule to the Bill are those to which these conditions apply. They have been settled after very careful consideration by officers who know the Gaeltacht generally, and they embrace the districts in which the conditions of the people are bad, the distances to be travelled to school by the children are longest, and the journeys most exposed. In order that Deputies might be able to see readily what districts are covered by the Schedule, I have had a map prepared and set up in the hall.
I do not think that, at this stage, I need say much in support of the general case for providing a hot meal for school children in the middle of the school day, especially in districts of the type with which we are dealing. The hours of school attendance are normally from 10 in the morning until 3 in the afternoon. In the districts under consideration, the children have to go long journeys, sometimes taking half-an-hour or an hour to reach school. The work on which they are engaged in school is just as exhausting as that in which adults mostly engage. It will be readily understood that at 12.30 or 1 o'clock — 3½ or 4 hours after they have left home — if a hot meal of some sort is not provided, the child ceases to be able, either physically or mentally, to take advantage of the teaching. That is shortly the case for seeing that the school child has some sort of hot meal during the school day under the best conditions. In the winter, the case is very much stronger. The child may have walked a long distance in drenching rain, and may have had to sit throughout the day in partly dried clothes or in clothes not dried at all.
It would be more agreeable to me to bring in a Bill which extended this benefit to the whole of the Gaeltacht, but there are several strong grounds against such a course. For reasons which I will explain later, it might well defeat the realisation of the purpose which the Bill will, I hope, achieve. In the first place, one must bear in mind that the principle of public assistance in the provision of meals for children has not been conceded in rural areas elsewhere in the country. Besides that, I am glad to be able to say that there are many portions of the Gaeltacht where the conditions of the people and the accessibility of the schools are just as good as they are in portions of the Galltacht.
In the second place, the putting into operation of this measure will depend on the goodwill of the county councils and county boards of health, by whom the actual arrangements for the meals must be made, and by whom half the cost of the food must be borne. I believe that the limitation of the area to those districts in which the need is most obvious will go a great way towards ensuring that goodwill and towards facilitating the councils in taking an early decision to put the measure in force. I cannot help thinking that any extension of the area might have the effect of postponing such a decision, or indeed of rendering the measure a dead letter. While the claim of the Gaeltacht for special treatment in this and other matters is generally admitted, I believe that the interests of the Gaeltacht are best served by moderation in the pressing of that claim, and by the immediate realisation of those purposes which are most pressing. In this way we can hope for a continuance of that general support in the carrying through of the measures for the benefit of the Gaeltacht which still lie before us. The form of the Bill follows broadly the lines of the earlier Acts, which have been found in practice to answer. The two most important differences between it and former Acts is that this is an extension to rural areas. The Act in the past applied only to urban areas. In former Acts there was a provision for payment by parents for meals supplied in schools. Section 2 of the Act of 1914 says:
(1) There shall be charged to the parent of every child in respect of every meal furnished to that child under this Act such an amount as may be determined by the local authority, and, in the event of payment not being made by the parent, it shall be the duty of the authority, unless they are satisfied that the parent is unable by reason of circumstances other than his own default to pay the amount, to require the payment of that amount from that parent, and any such amount may be recovered as a civil debt in the manner provided by the Summary Jurisdiction Acts.
(2) The local authority shall pay over to the school meals committee so much of any money paid to them by, or recovered from, any parent as may be determined by the authority to represent the cost of the food furnished by the committee to the child of that parent, less a reasonable deduction in respect of the expenses of recovering the same.
There is no such provision in the Bill before us. The provision of meals will be carried out by the county councils through the boards of health acting with the assistance of committees, which may consist entirely of members of the board of health, or they may enlist the services of persons outside. Section 7 provides that it shall be no part of the official duty of a teacher to assist in the provision of meals. I anticipate that this measure will be borne largely on the shoulders of the teachers, but they will do this service not as part of their duty to the State but as a voluntary act. I know there is a desire on the part of the teachers to assist generally in the matter, and the assistance given in the way of voluntary work in a matter of this kind is likely to be more valuable than if given as part of their official duties. The measure will not be without value to the teachers, as I am confident it will lead to better educational results, which will make it easier for the teachers to impart knowledge to the pupils, but, as I have said, there will be no compulsion on the teachers to assist in the provision of the meals.
Section 9 provides a limit to the amount of the State contribution, which is not to exceed £10,000. The number of schools in the scheduled area is 337, and the average attendance last year was 19,032. The cost of providing a meal would amount roughly, on an average, to 1¼d. per child. This estimate is supported by previous experience in other parts of the country, when assistance in the provision of meals was given out of relief funds some years ago. It is also supported by experience in urban areas. In the latter the average cost has been lower, as the cost of the commodities in these areas is somewhat lower. The average urban cost in 1927 was 1.1d.; in 1928, 1.18d.; and in 1929, 1.19d. It is not a large sum, but I contemplate that it will enable a cup of hot cocoa with milk and sugar and a substantial slice of bread and butter, or jam, to be supplied to each child. That is the maximum we could provide, but in many cases children will bring home-made bread and butter or other food as a contribution to the meal. Ten thousand pounds will be ear-marked for the boards of health affected, and each board will have some discretion as to the expenditure of the money, subject to the condition that only half the actual cost of food provided will be repaid to it. If any board of health should fail to put the measure into force its share of the £10,000 will come back into the Exchequer. The whole annual expenditure is not very much, but I feel it is money well expended and that it will give a better return in the physical and mental equipment of the children turned out from the schools in the scheduled areas. The measure will, I hope, with the cooperation of the county councils and the boards of health, be brought into actual operation in a number of areas on 1st October.