Seán Kyne (Fine Gael)
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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.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senator Kyne for raising this very important matter of the rates paid to providers of school meals across the country under the school meals programme. The school meals programme provides funding towards the provision of food to some 1,700 schools and organisations, benefiting 260,000 children. The objective of the programme is to provide regular nutritious food to children who are unable, due to lack of good-quality food, to take full advantage of the education provided to them. The programme is an important component of policies to encourage school attendance and extra educational achievement.

A budget of €65.1 million has been provided for the scheme this year, with an additional €9 million provided to allow access to all newly designated DEIS schools from September 2022. Funding under the school meals programme can be provided for breakfast, snacks, cold lunches, dinner, hot school meals and after-school clubs and is based on a maximum rate per child per day, depending on the type of meal provided.

As part of budget 2019, funding was provided for a pilot scheme from September 2019 providing hot school meals in primary schools. The pilot involved 37 schools benefiting 6,744 students for the 2019-20 academic year and was aimed at primary schools with no on-site cooking facilities. An independent review of the hot school meals pilot which was completed in July 2020 found that all stakeholders indicated that the pilot project had a positive impact on children's diet, behaviour, attentiveness and psychological well-being.

In budget 2021 the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, announced that an additional €5.5 million would be provided to extend the provision of hot school meals to an additional 35,000 primary school children currently receiving the cold lunch option.

Budget 2022 provided for the hot school meals to be extended from January 2022 to the 81 DEIS schools that submitted an expression of interest but were not selected in the extension to 35,000 children as referred to. Every DEIS school that submitted an expression of interest to be included in the hot school meals extension announced in budget 2021 is now receiving funding for hot school meals.

In March 2022, the Minister for Education announced an extension of the DEIS programme to an additional 322 schools from September 2022. In July the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, announced that access to the hot school meal option would be extended to the 282 newly designated DEIS primary schools and that access to the cold lunch option would be extended to the 38 newly designated DEIS secondary schools from September, benefiting some 60,000 children at an additional cost of €9 million this year. Additional funding for the programme has been provided for 2023, bringing the total to €91.6 million.

The Minister is committed to continuing to expanding the school meals programme and building further on the significant extension of the programme in recent years. In this regard, she commissioned the evaluation of the school meals programme to review all elements of the programme, including the funding rates currently being provided for the various meal options. The final report is due to be completed by the end of the year.

I thank the Senator for raising the matter as it is important that such issues are raised.

Seán Kyne (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for the reply on behalf of the Department. I welcome the fact that the Department is looking at the rates and that decisions will be made by the end of the year, but I am afraid that that will be too late. As I said, there are currently schools not receiving tenders to provide school meals. I am gravely concerned that there is no fast-tracking of the issue of rates of pay for the meals. It is a concern. As I said, I welcome the fact that there is a review due to be completed by the end of the year, but I am concerned that a solution will not be provided for children in DEIS schools between now and Christmas and that those schools will be left stranded.

Tá a fhios agam go bhfuil an Roinn ag déanamh athbhreithnithe ar scéim na mbéilí scoile faoi láthair. Tá an scéim seo fíorthábhachtach do scoileanna DEIS ach ní raibh aon mhéadú ar na rátaí a íocann an Roinn Coimirce Sóisialaí do na béilí le deich mbliana anuas. Tá scoileanna anois faoi bhrú ó thaobh tairiscintí a fháil ó chomhlachtaí chun na béilí a chur ar fáil. Luaigh mé an t-ábhar seo leis an gCeannaire ar an Ord Gnó le déanaí. Cuirim fáilte roimh an ráiteas ón Aire Stáit ach teastaíonn brú ar an Roinn chun an t-athbhreithniú seo a chríochnú agus méadú a dhéanamh ar na rátaí.

We really need to expedite the completion of the review such that it is done by the end of the year or, if possible, by early next month, with a review of the rates to allow companies to provide realistic tenders for the provision of school meals.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I again thank the Senator for raising this matter and for the constructive engagement. As I outlined, budget 2022 provided €68.1 million for a programme, with an additional €9 million provided to allow access to all new DEIS schools from September 2022. Additional funding for the programme has been provided for 2023, bringing the total to €91.6 million, which represents a 49% funding increase in the period since 2020.

The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, has commissioned an evaluation of the school meals programme and all its elements, including the funding that is being provided for the various meal options. The evaluation has involved close consultation with all stakeholders. Workshops and interviews are being conducted with teachers, principals and children, as well as suppliers. Key issues to be explored as part of the evaluation include whether the schools meals programme is meeting its aims, the practicalities for schools in moving to a hot school meal option, what works well and does not, how the programme can be better delivered, the extent to which the school meals programme has improved school attendance and educational achievement, how the scheme compares with programmes in other countries, the implications of extending the scheme and the implications of the European child guarantee for schools meals programme. The final report is due to be completed by the end of the year and will help to inform future decisions around this important programme. The Minister is committed to growing the school meals programme further and issues regarding the funding of it will be considered in the context of this evaluation. I again thank the Senator for raising this matter and for a constructive engagement.