Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I again thank the Senator for raising the matter. To give a little more information on the evaluation commissioned earlier this year, it involved close consultation with all the stakeholders and workshops and interviews have been conducted with teachers, principles, children as well as suppliers. Key issues to be explored as part of the evaluation include: whether the schools meals programme meets its aims; what the practicalities are for schools moving to a hot school meals option; what works well and what is not working well; how the programme can be better delivered; the extent to which the school meals programme has improved school attendance and education attainment; how the scheme compares with other programmes in other countries; what might be the implications of extending the scheme; what are the implications of the EU child guarantee for the school meals programme; and indeed the cost issue the Senator has raised as well. As I said, the final report is due to be completed at the end of the year; we are hoping it will be done in the next two weeks.