John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I hear what the Minister is saying. As we stand here, many schools in the State have issued letters to parents informing them that, as of 1 June, they will not be in a position to provide lunches for the entire month. Other schools found out at the beginning of September last year that there would not be the same level of funding as the previous year. Those schools chose to forego school meals for the entire month of September.

Schools are being put in a very precarious situation. One school was in consultation with a supplier of school meals, who asked the school to leave the matter with him and said he would see what he could do to try to accommodate it for the month of June. The supplier came back to the school and said that due to the level of cuts, and given that similar schools were in similar situations, he was not a position to be able to put in place plans for the month of June.

The Minister said there were no cuts, but the reality is that schools are not in a position to be able to provide school meals for the entire month of June or were unable to do so in September last year. The funding is only 90% of what schools received the previous year. Cuts are being imposed on schools, but perhaps not to the overall budget that has been allocated. Children are the ones who have to bear the brunt of that.

See this speech in context