Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

This has been Green Party policy since God was a boy, going back to the time of Trevor Sargent, who was elected in the same constituency as my party colleague the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien. I feel strongly, as a former primary school teacher, that when children are in front of us, we should feed them well.

The prepared reply the Minister gave me was detailed in some respects but did not go to the heart of the question in others, so before coming to the Chamber I researched on the Department's website the rates that are available. A sum of €2.90 is what is being made available for a hot meal. I understand the economies of scale and so on, whereby it will be cheaper for schools to feed the masses rather than a family feeding four or five at the dinner table, but is that enough for a high-quality, nutritious meal? The figure for breakfast jumped out at me as well, with 60 cent being provided. I am not sure I could put a nutritious breakfast on my table at home for 60 cent. Are we spending enough per meal to ensure we are getting good nutrition into these kids?

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