David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 57: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of schools participating in each of the school completion programmes and the Giving Children an Even Break initiative; the number of schools participating in each of these programmes which offer school meals projects; the number of pupils who receive school meals as part of these projects; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13126/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The school completion programme, which was launched in 2002, incorporates the learning, experience and best practice derived from previous early school leaving initiatives, namely, the eight to 15 early school leaver initiative and the stay in school retention initiative. The programme is a key component of the Department's strategy to discriminate positively in favour of children and young people who are at risk of early school leaving and it is based on an integrated cross-community approach to tackling educational disadvantage, involving 82 projects in 21 counties. There are currently 300 primary schools and 112 second level schools participating in the school completion programme. Approximately 15,000 pupils were targeted by the school completion programme in the 2003-04 school year.

The Giving Children an Even Break programme was launched in 2001 to tackle educational disadvantage at primary level. Primary schools participating are in receipt of a range of additional supports, including teacher posts and other non-teaching supports to be targeted at disadvantaged pupils. A total of 2,345 primary schools are participating in this programme, covering a spectrum ranging from highly concentrated to very dispersed levels of disadvantage. Financial support is allocated to schools on a sliding scale, and schools with greater proportions of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds are allocated proportionately more funding than those with fewer numbers of such pupils.

The majority of the 412 schools in the school completion programme, and more than 100 of the most disadvantaged primary schools participating in the Giving Children an Even Break programme, operate some level of breakfast or other meal provision, in accordance with the nutritional guidelines issued by the Department of Social and Family Affairs. In addition to being able to use funding, the provision of school meals is primarily funded by the school meals programme, administered by the Department of Social and Family Affairs, and involving both an urban scheme operated by 36 participating local authorities and a local projects scheme.

The school meals programme aims to supplement the nutritional intake of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds in order to allow them to fulfil their potential within the educational system and to reduce the risk of early school leaving. Some 41,000 children benefited in 450 schools under the local projects scheme and the urban scheme provided support for more than 380 primary schools and 51,000 pupils. The Department of Social and Family Affairs has provided funding of €6.38 million for the programme.

We will continue to ensure that the resources available are used to best effect to further expand school meal provisions in schools serving disadvantaged communities.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Have these programmes being evaluated recently and, if so, what information has the Minister received in respect of them? What is her view of their effectiveness? Has she measured that? Does she plan to expand these programmes to other schools across the State? If so, will she give us information on that?

Is all the money being made available by the Department of Social and Family Affairs under the school meals programme being used? Is the Minister satisfied with the quality of the breakfasts and other food made available to pupils?

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy's last question would be more appropriately directed to the Department administering that programme. The money available under the programme is used to great advantage, as any of us who have been in schools would have seen. We have devised models of best practice for breakfast clubs, which provide that food is offered to all pupils in a class or in a school rather than targeting individual children, that the food is nutritious and hot, a specific room is allocated to serve the food which is a familiar place to the children and parents are encouraged to become involved in the programme. It works very well. Unfortunately, as I have said before, it is a terrible indictable of our society that children will get out bed to go for breakfast and then they stay in school, having been fed. It is a hugely successful programme.

The Deputy asked about the school completion programme. We have examined various elements of it and decided to adopt a co-ordinated approach to the whole area of disadvantage, taking the best elements and progressing them further and, more particularly, targeting resources at areas that need them most. Disbursing money in many different areas throughout the country is not having the best effect because we need to specifically target resources. There are very good elements in some of these programmes which we will continue to operate under the new co-ordinated programme with extra investment to tackle disadvantage.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I asked the Minister about evaluation of these programmes. Has an evaluation been carried out? Does she plan to expand these programmes to all schools? Will she agree it is an indictment of our society that there is such a need and such poverty that children come to school hungry? What other plans has she, in conjunction with other Ministers, to deal with poverty, in particular food poverty, in schools and elsewhere in society?

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Much can be done to promote healthy eating. It is promoted in the schools through the SPHE programme through encouraging students to learn about nutrition and food at primary and post-primary level. Family support services do great work in this area. We have seen this in our communities with the implementation of initiatives such as the Springboard Project where families in very disadvantaged areas are encouraged and brought in and receive training on the nutritional aspect. I visited very disadvantaged schools that run a parallel programme for mothers who receive adult education on healthy eating and food. Full credit is due to one school in Tallaght that not only brought in the mothers and taught them about healthy eating but gave them the cooking implements to bring home. If the class made a Chinese stir-fry, the mothers were given a wok to keep, which was a lovely idea. It was like teaching a man to fish and giving him the equipment to do so. This programme is working and it must be promoted by way of a cross-departmental approach.

Under the new disadvantaged action plan, having evaluated in-house the programmes that have worked, we will extend the schemes that work.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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I recently visited a Barnardos project and it was interesting to hear that the children are willing to get up early in the morning where there is a breakfast club whereas prior to its introduction they might not have wanted to go to school. We must urge the Minister to expand that programme as quickly as possible.

Regarding the general proposals to tackle educational disadvantage — I presume this scheme is part of the overall discussions — when does the Minister expect to publish her proposals?

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The document has gone to the printer and for translation as a policy document. Caithfidh sé bheith ar fáil i nGaelige freisin. As soon as it is available I will launch it.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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The Minister's primary concerns at the beginning of her ministry were the areas of disadvantage and special needs. Has there been a drift away from that focus, particularly when there is much talk about private schools lately and about the third level debate? Has the Minister changed her focus on the areas of disadvantage and special needs?

Does she have any long-term plan for pre-school education, particularly in targeting educational disadvantage because children are turning up in primary schools who are three or four years, and sometimes even five years, behind in literacy and language skills? Does she have a strategy to deal with this issue?

Regarding the healthy eating project we all support, it is sad that children have to come to school in the morning to get a breakfast in a breakfast club in a primary school, although it is a service that is urgently needed. Will the Minister agree that if children constantly eat junk food, it leads to indiscipline in the classroom and, at times, particularly in some schools, more violence in the yard during breaks?

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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At the outset of my ministry I made it clear that each sector within the education system was important and it would be highly dangerous to ignore the third level sector in favour of any one of the other two sectors, because we need each of them for the future of society and the economy. My concentration continues to be on disadvantage and special needs. The amount of extra Exchequer spending on special needs has been evident in the last couple of months, including the huge increases on addressing disadvantage. The new co-ordinated approach and the attention on disadvantage will be evident when the new plan is launched in the next few weeks. I accept that pre-school early intervention is essential for disadvantaged areas. It is also important to examine other provisions in disadvantaged areas because there is no point in duplicating provisions. The role of parents, the community and pre-school services must be examined together, but it is my intention to extend it.