Ivor Callely (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 85: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the moneys available in 2007 to Dublin City Council for the school milk scheme; the funding available in each of the years 2003 to 2006; the number of schools that participate in the milk and cheese scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8543/07]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The objective of the EU School Milk Scheme, which is funded, by the EU and the national exchequer is to encourage and promote the consumption of milk amongst school children of secondary, primary and nursery school age. In Ireland, approximately 1,390 schools participate in the scheme, and approximately 81,033 pupils.

Dublin City Council provides free school meals to schools designated with disadvantaged status and funding for this scheme is a matter for Dublin City Council and not my Department. In total, 357 schools in Dublin participate in the school milk scheme and 123 are within the Dublin City Council School Meals Scheme.

My Department acts as a paying agency for participants who submit claims under the School Milk Scheme. In the case of Dublin City Council, the service provider receives payments for the milk element of the school meal and Dublin City Council receive payment for the cheese element. Funding paid to Dublin City Council for cheese supplied averaged €5,500 per school year over the period 2003-2006.

Last year I re-launched the School Milk Scheme and funded €150,000 for the purchase of 1,000 fridges throughout the country. There has been significant new interest in the scheme and I am convinced that the increasing variety of milk products now being offered will attract a greater level of participation, and in the process will contribute in a positive way to a healthier school going population.