Pat Rabbitte
Ceist:123 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the recent changes she has made to the free school meals programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13557/03]
Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.
Ruairí Quinn
Ceist:136 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she has received an application for funding for school meals from the Enable Ireland School, Sandymount, County Dublin; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13556/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 123 and 136 together.
The school meals programme provides funding for a statutory urban school meals scheme, which operates in conjunction with certain local authorities, as well as a local projects scheme which targets schools with high levels of disadvantaged pupils in both urban and rural areas. In 2002, €2.02 million was spent on the school meals programme. This year I provided an additional €2.35 million in the budget to enable me to enhance and expand the programme. In 2002, some 380 schools with a total of more than 60,000 pupils benefited from the urban scheme while 105 schools and voluntary organisations received funding which benefited more than 11,000 children under the school meals local projects scheme. So far this year, a further 63 schools have received funding under the local projects scheme.
The report of an interdepartmental working group to review the school meals scheme was completed earlier this year and it recommends a number of changes in order to focus the scheme on areas of greatest disadvantage. These include targeting secondary schools with the highest concentration of pupils at risk of early school leaving and the primary schools from which their pupils come. The working group felt that, in view of the scale of implementation, changes should be introduced on a phased basis. It recommended that, initially, the most disadvantaged schools should be targeted.
My Department is working with the Department of Education and Science to ensure that the available resources are applied in the most effective way to ensure that they are targeted at the schools and students most in need of this support. The Department of Agriculture and Food is also assisting with the school meals programme as it operates a scheme, funded by the European Union, whereby milk and dairy products are provided free of charge or at subsidised cost to school children. This scheme can make an important contribution in providing suitable nutritional food for the programme.
With regard to the school in question, my Department contacted the school in March to advise of the existence of the school meals programme. The school subsequently made an application for funding which was approved recently and payment issued. That funding, together with a similar amount of funding from Dublin City Council, meets the full cost of school meals provision in the school.