Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 356: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the schools in County Mayo that currently benefit from a scheme (details supplied); the cost of operating this scheme in County Mayo; the way the scheme is tendered and operated locally; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37114/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The school meals programme gives funding towards the provision of food services for disadvantaged school children through two schemes. The first is the long-standing statutory urban school meals scheme, operated by local authorities and part-financed by the Department of Social & Family Affairs. The second is the School Meals Local projects scheme through which funding is provided directly by the Department to participating schools and local and voluntary community groups who are running their own school meals projects. Priority for funding under the school meals local projects scheme is given to schools which are part of the Department of Education & Science's initiative for disadvantaged schools, 'Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools' (DEIS).

Funding under the School Meals Local Projects Scheme is available for a variety of school meals projects, including breakfast clubs, snack clubs, lunch clubs, dinner clubs and homework clubs. The decision to operate a school meals project and responsibility for the actual operation of the project, including the supply of food to the school, rests entirely with the school or organisation concerned. Funding under the scheme is to assist participating schools/ organisations with food costs only.

In Co. Mayo, 106 schools, preschools and organisations have benefited under the school meals programme to date. This includes a variety of different types of school food projects, including schools who receive funding directly from the Department for either the full school population or for targeted pupils and also school food projects operated by local and voluntary organisations. In the school year 2007/2008, €2.5 million in funding issued to schools and organisations located in Co Mayo in respect of the school meals programme.

The school meals programme has expanded significantly in recent years. Total expenditure on the urban and local projects school meals schemes increased from €13.6 million in 2006 to €28.2 million in 2007, and is expected to be in the region of €32 million in 2008. In 2006, 1,389 schools and 125,000 pupils benefited from the programme and this increased to over 189,000 pupils from over 1,900 schools in 2007.