Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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9. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if her Department has measured the progress and success of the school meals programme in the context of diet, attendance and educational attainment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18078/24]

Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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15. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will provide an update on the roll-out of the hot school meals programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17836/24]

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Has the Department measured the progress and success of the schools meal programme in the context of diet, attendance and educational means?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take questions Nos 9 and 15 together.

The objective of the school meals programme is to provide regular, nutritious food to children to support them in taking full advantage of the education provided to them. Following the expansion of the programme in recent years, some 2,600 schools and organisations, covering 443,000 children are now eligible for funding.

I recently announced that the hot school meals programme has been expanded to include an additional 900 primary schools and 150,000 children. This means that over 2,000 primary schools are able to benefit from hot school meals. The programme started in 2019 with a small pilot of 30 schools.

The nutritional standards for school meals were developed by a working group led by the Department of Health, in consultation with Safefood and the healthy eating and active living programme in the Health Service Executive.

In March 2023, I published an independent evaluation of the school meals programme which sets out the positive impact the programme is having in terms of children’s education and well-being. The key finding was an overwhelming consensus among all participants in the evaluation that the programme is effective. Most parents suggested that their child had an improved attitude towards food, highlighting the benefits of the programme in encouraging healthy eating. Students were asked how they felt about the programme and their responses were overall positive. They praised the taste and nutritional quality of the food. Data from principals showed that their views of the nutritional values, the quality, and the portion size of the meals provided were favourable. Changing children’s attitudes towards healthier eating was also a common theme across principals’ responses. Most principals indicated that the programme improved physical health, attendance and performance. These findings are consistent with the pilot project report, published by my Department in March 2021.

Last week, I announced a new round of expressions of interest. My Department is in the process of contacting any primary schools that are not yet part of this important scheme to invite them to express an interest. I would encourage any primary schools that have yet to participate to now come on board. I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Following the expansion of the scheme in recent years, some 2,600 schools and organisations covering 443,000 are now eligible for funding under the school meals programme. Under the hot school meals programme, 900 primary schools were added this year means. This means that 150,000 more children will get hot school meals. I reiterate that from this month, over 2,000 primary schools will benefit from hot school meals and that the programme began in 2019 with a small pilot of just 30 schools.

I am absolutely committed to the provision of hot schools meals. It is a wonderful programme. I am delighted that this Government has been able to expand it because it does make a difference to the children, their educational attainment and to their attendance at school. When I visited some of the schools, teachers told me that some children come to school because they are getting hot dinners. That means the programme is making a difference to their lives.

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister. I strongly agree with her about the hot school meals programme. It is absolutely excellent not only for DEIS schools but for every school included in the programme. The Minister announced hot meals for an additional 900 primary schools. Ten of those schools are in Carlow. These are schools that I had been working with. They are rural schools. For all the schools that get the programme, they are a game-changer. I was delighted to hear the Minister’s facts and figures about how it has benefited children, how children are going to school and how the programme makes a difference. There is a long-term effect for communities.

It is also helping many caterers to create jobs. The standard is absolutely excellent. It has a knock-on effect for communities particularly in rural areas. I really welcome this. I wanted the facts and figures. My only question is whether the Minister will consider introducing breakfasts as well.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Not too many measures are universally popular but I think that everybody absolutely supports the hot school meals programme. I have always been a firm believer that it is not possible to beat a hot meal in the middle of the day. I visited St. Thomas's Junior National School in Lucan with the Taoiseach last week. We saw the children getting their hot meals. They were all sitting down around the table. They were having their chats and eating whatever they had chosen from the menu the week before. They had a choice between chicken curry, lasagna and shepherd's pie. It is a great leveller because everybody gets the same choice of food, which is important. I strongly insisted on not allowing some to be picked while others were not. That is not right because all children are equal in my eyes; so everybody gets it. When we were packing lunches - I am sure it was the same for Deputy Murnane O'Connor - it would have been very handy if our children had had hot school meals.

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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This is a good news story for children. Some families might not have as much as others. At least they know their children are going in every day and getting a hot meal, which is a game-changer. All schools, but particularly primary schools, should provide these meals. Schools can now reapply. We need to contact all the schools in order that they know about this. The programme needs to be extended to all schools. As I said, it is excellent. Many parents are ringing me to say it is a great success. I thank the Minister, the Government and everyone who has worked on and who has shown commitment to this programme. It is really important that we look after our children's futures, and that is what we are doing.

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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The Minister was very good to ensure that all children in Ennis Community School received hot school meals for the entire year. It has worked really well. It is the amalgamation of three schools, one of which is DEIS. I am raising it to highlight it again with the Minister this morning so that she might consider extending that for a further year as it was a huge success. All the children there like to be the same as each other as we all know.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I say to Deputy Murnane O'Connor that the hot school meals programme is running in 31 schools in Carlow, covering 5,639 children.

In response to Deputy Wynne, Ennis Community School was brought to my attention. I was obviously very conscious the amalgamation, involving some DEIS and some non-DEIS schools - that was the secondary school. We were able to provide that support and solution at the time. We have to continue to work with them and I am happy to do what we can. It is important that children are treated equally.

We had planned to have the programme rolled out to all primary schools by 2030 but I am glad to say that it has gone much quicker than was initially anticipated and I am very keen to drive on. We hope that by the end of 2025 all children in primary schools will be getting a hot school meal. I urge those schools that have not been in touch to please get in touch. I am sure the children will do the talking because somebody will be getting a hot school meal in one school and somebody else will not be getting it in another. That is the way the news gets out. As I said, I am totally supportive of it.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Regarding dietary standards, healthy eating guidelines are set out for the suppliers. They must meet certain standards and I would expect them to do that. There are intermittent inspections by my Department in different schools. It is up to the to the principal and teachers to make sure the appropriate food is coming in because it is being paid for.