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

I really do not understand why that should be the case. The budget for 2016 was €42 million and was €39 million the year before. There was an increase on last year, and there will be a further increase this year.

Schools get 100% funding for school breakfasts for all of the children in a school and not just those from disadvantaged families. When it comes to lunches, 90% of the funding is provided. There has been no change to that figure; it has been 90% for a long time. A school is supposed to manage within that allocation, taking into account absences and so on. That is not a change.

There may be particular issues in particular schools, such as the number of children in a school having reduced which may mean the budget was reduced or, for some reason, schools have not been able to manage their allocation. The best thing that can be done in those circumstances is for those individual schools to make contact with my Department and we will see what we can do to assist them.

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