Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 47: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she will make a full statement on the suggestion that fraud has been permitted in connection with the school meals scheme. [9013/09]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 62: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if her Department is involved in an investigation into allegations of subsidy fraud under the school meals programme; if not, if her Department is aware of this alleged fraud; her Department's role in the administration of the school meals programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7905/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 47 and 62 together.

The school meals programme gives funding towards the provision of food services for disadvantaged school children through two schemes. The first is the 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 run their own school meals projects.

The Department has received one allegation in relation to the operation of the School Meals programme and this allegation is currently being investigated. The Department does not comment on individual allegations of fraud or abuse until there has been a successful prosecution in the courts.

Under the School Meals scheme, the Department funds schools and school-based community organisations in respect of food costs only, subject to various conditions. The decision to operate a school food project or to apply for funding under the school meals local projects scheme rests with the school itself. Funding under the scheme is targeted at disadvantaged school children. The intention is to assist schools or groups who are operating their own school food projects, with the food costs of the project only. Responsibility for all aspects of the day-to-day operation of the scheme lies with the school.

Funding is issued on the basis of a rate per child, per meal, per day. It is the responsibility of the school or project to ensure that food is purchased only for children in attendance. All schools or projects have to submit financial returns to the Department which detail the numbers and types of meals provided and the numbers of children benefiting. These returns are backed up by receipts for food costs incurred.

School principals making returns have to certify the number of meals provided and the number of pupils benefiting. This is to ensure that all funding is used for the purpose for which it is intended. Officials of the Department make visits to a number of participating schools throughout the year as a control measure.

The Department of Education and Science has indicated that there are currently 875 schools in its programme for disadvantaged schools — DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools). Pupils from 730 DEIS schools (83% of DEIS schools) are benefiting under the school meals local projects scheme.

The number of meals provided under the urban and Local Projects Schemes has more than doubled from 89,915 in the 2005/2006 school year to 220,961 in the school year 2007/2008. In providing meals to this number of pupils, the scheme is a direct intervention in supporting disadvantaged children.