Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 June 2021
873. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost of increasing the school meals programme budget by 5%, 10%, 20% and 25%, respectively; and the estimated cost of extending the programme budget to include provision for breakfast in addition to lunch. [31168/21]
View answerThe school meals programme provides funding towards the provision of food to some 1,506 schools and organisations benefitting 230,000 children. The objective of the programme 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.
Funding can be provided for breakfast, snack, lunch, dinner, hot meals and afterschool clubs, subject to submission of an application. It is based on a maximum rate per child per day, depending on the type of meal being provided e.g. €0.60 per child per day where a breakfast is being provided and €1.40 per child per day where a cold lunch is being provided.
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.
Prior to the introduction of DEIS in 2005, all schools and organisations that were part of one of a number of Department of Education and Skills’ initiatives for disadvantaged schools were eligible to participate in the programme, which included Breaking the Cycle, Giving Children an Even Break, the Disadvantaged Area Scheme, Home School Community Liaison and the School Completion Programme. These schools and organisations have continued to remain in the scheme since the introduction of DEIS in 2005 but their level of funding has been capped at the same rate year on year to allow for the concentration of the scheme on DEIS schools.
Based on the 2021 budgetary allocation of €65.1 million, the additional annual costs of expanding the school meals programme by 5%, 10%, 20% and 25% are €3.3 million, €6.5 million, €13 million and €16.3 million respectively.
The scheme is currently available to all 887 DEIS schools, of which 144 are not availing of the breakfast or snack and 199 are not availing of lunch. If all DEIS schools not currently availing of the breakfast and lunch options were to apply to be included the estimated additional cost would be €9.6m annually.
Changes to increase the funding of any scheme administered by my Department would have to be considered in a budgetary context.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
