Paddy Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I too would like to congratulate the Cathaoirleach on his contribution to the joint session of the Houses this morning and on inviting President Zelenskyy to address the Houses of the Oireachtas. I would also like to congratulate the Taoiseach on his contribution and his overview of the scenario. We are all at one with Ukraine in this situation.

The Acting Leader might ask the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, to the House for a debate on a comprehensive evaluation of the school meals programme she has requested. The review will be reported back to her for budget 2023. The scheme is significant and it is only right that we have a comprehensive overview or evaluation of it. The programme has an annual budget of €65 million. Some 1,500 schools participate in it and over 230,000 children the length and breadth of the country avail of free school meals. It is important that young children have a proper meal at least once a day, and this programme provides that. There are a lot of questions to be answered in terms of how the scheme affects school attendance and whether it has helped that since it has been implemented. We also need to know which meal is most important, be it breakfast, lunch or an evening meal, or a combination of all three. I welcome the review put in place by the Minister. It is important that the House has a debate on the issue before the review is completed.