Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I can confirm to Members of the House that no cuts have been made to the school meals programme. The programme provides funding towards the provision of food to schools and organisations, benefitting over 200,000 children. The allocation for 2017 is €47.5 million, an increase of €5.5 million or 13% on the 2014 allocation of €42 million. This increase will benefit over 50,000 children.

The funding for this year provides an additional €2.5 million to provide increases to DEIS schools, including supporting a further 51 newly designated DEIS schools. Funding is now available to all DEIS schools in the country to provide breakfast for all children and lunch for the majority of children. Breakfast is prioritised as it provides very positive outcomes in terms of children’s energy levels, punctuality and school attendance.

In addition, my Department has recently contacted 240 schools inviting them to join the scheme from September 2017. This includes 64 newly designated DEIS schools and 175 non-DEIS schools, which are schools which have a high level of children affected by disadvantage, selected in consultation with the Department of Education and Skills. This is the first time in many years that increases are being provided outside of DEIS. Almost 190 of those schools contacted have responded positively.

Schools are notified in writing of their allocation at the beginning of the academic year and are expected to manage within the funding provided. The issue of running out of funding should, therefore, not arise as schools are responsible for managing within their allocation and ensuring value for money. If any school finds itself in this position, it should contact my Department, and we will do our best to assist it. I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

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