Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The objective of the School Meals 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. Following the expansion of the programme in recent years, some 2,600 schools and organisations, covering 443,000 children are now eligible for funding.

Funding under the School Meals Programme 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.

Entry to the School Meals Programme had been confined to DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) schools in addition to schools identified by the Department of Education as having levels of concentrated disadvantage meaning that their students would benefit from access to the 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's initiatives for disadvantaged schools were eligible to participate in the 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. The pre-school referred to by the Deputy is one of these organisations. My Department allocated €4,250 to this pre-school for the 2023-2024 school year.

The Early Years Services Regulations (Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations 2016) state that Early Learning and Care Services must ensure that all children in attendance receive a nutritious diet that takes account of individual needs and preferences. Under these regulations, Early Learning and Care Services are required to develop a Policy on Healthy Eating. The Tusla Early Years Inspectorate inspects the policy using these regulations and requirements.

I understand that the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has undertaken a pilot on the delivery of hot meals and additional nutrition in Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) settings, and that the learning from this pilot will be incorporated into future possible actions of the proposed Equal Start funding model that will be announced shortly.

Any further steps regarding the meal programme for pre-schools is a matter for the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.