Mr. Niall Egan:

It is now 75 cent for breakfast and €3.20 for a hot school meal so the figures have gone up. Those are the current rates. They had not increased for a very long time before that and obviously the Department keeps things under review. We are very confident they are of nutritional value because that is one of the key requirements, of the hot school meals particularly, any provider has to meet. The feedback we have gotten from schools, from students themselves, and from their parents is very positive in terms of the nutritional value. It is also positive from the teachers' perspective and what it means in a practical way throughout the day and also the fact students really seem to enjoy them.

Regarding procurement, there is a procurement process related to the expansion of the hot school meals programme and that will be under way as part of that expansion; we can take the Deputy's comments on green procurement point on board.

I agree with the Deputy on paternity benefit. If we are achieving our target of 65% then we need to reevaluate that target.