Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. I thank the Cathaoirleach's office for choosing this Commencement matter.

As the Minister of State will know, the school meals programme provides funding towards provision of food services for disadvantaged schoolchildren. The programme is approved and funded by the Department of Social Protection, and funding is based on a rate of payment per meal per child, per day.

I recently met with Galway and Roscommon Education and Training Board, GRETB, which very much values this scheme and does tremendous work for schools across its region, in both city and county areas as well as in Connemara. GRETB is concerned about a number of issues.

First, there has been no review of Department of Social Protection maximum rates of payment in over a decade. The Department of Social Protection is aware of the extra costs currently facing suppliers. GRETB understands that an independent evaluation of the school meals programme has taken place and that its preliminary findings will inform future policy decisions. The Department, however, has provided no update. Suppliers are no longer applying for school meals tenders, and current suppliers are withdrawing from the scheme to mitigate their losses. This is a serious situation in that nobody is applying for tenders to provide the school meals for which the Department and the Government are paying. That is one of the main issues GRETB is experiencing in respect of school meals.

Merlin College was awarded DEIS status on 7 July of this year for school meals for 700 students. GRETB ran an accelerated school meals procurement procedure during August, which received no tender response. GRETB is at this time unable to recruit a supplier for Merlin College that is prepared to provide cold lunches at the price stipulated. Therefore, students do not have access to school catering services. Coláiste Cholmcille, Indreabhán, and Coláiste na bPiarsach, Ros Muc, both DEIS schools, have been advised by their tender-holder that he is no longer able to provide school meals at the current price and that his losses are accumulating. Elphin Community College, County Roscommon, which provides school breakfasts, has been advised by its tender-supplier that it is running at a loss and has been for the past year. GRETB is aware of other ETBs experiencing issues with the appointment of tenderers for the school meals programme.

As for the basic payment rates for breakfasts or snacks, the maximum rate of pay per child per day is 60 cent. That requires the provision of two items. An example is one serving of wholemeal or wholegrain cereal of bread plus one serving of fruit or one serving of milk, yoghurt or cheese. For a lunch the maximum rate of payment is €1.40 for one substantial item and one small item plus a drink. That also includes a wholemeal or wholegrain sandwich or roll containing one serving of meat, poultry, egg or cheese, one serving of salad and one serving of fruit plus a drink - for example, water, milk or unsweetened juice. For dinner the maximum rate of payment is €1.90 per child per day. That is for a hot meal and a drink. That includes one serving of meat, poultry, egg or beans plus one serving of potatoes, pasta or rice, plus two servings of vegetables and fruit plus a drink - again, milk, water or unsweetened juice. For a hot meal the rate is €2.90. That is per the nutritional standards document as well.

This is a very important and much-valued scheme but it is under huge pressure. I might use the word "crisis" at this stage because, as I said, when tenderers do not even apply to provide the scheme and when tenderers that are providing it are doing so at a loss in the hope that there will be a review and additional rates or that the situation will improve, that is a serious situation for the communities involved.