Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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134. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if his attention has been drawn to schools that will run out of funding for school meals in 2017; the reason for this; the number of schools affected; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11081/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy may not be aware that funding for the school meals scheme was increased this year, as part of Budget 2017, by an additional €5.7 million (almost 14% over the previous year’s allocation) which will benefit more than 50,000 children. I want to emphasise that recent reports suggesting that funding under this scheme has reduced is not the case.

The school meals programme provides funding towards the provision of food to schools and organisations benefitting over 200,000 children at a total cost of some €47.7 million during 2017. For the current academic year, 2016/2017, a total of some €44 million has been allocated to schools under the scheme which includes an additional €2.5 million to provide further increases to DEIS schools, which are prioritised under the scheme. In addition, a further 21 DEIS schools have joined the scheme this year. Funding is now being provided to enable DEIS schools to provide breakfast for all children and lunch for the majority of children. Breakfast clubs are prioritised as they provide very positive outcomes for vulnerable children in terms of their energy levels, punctuality and school attendance.

Schools are notified in writing of their allocation at the beginning of the academic year, many of which have received significant increases over that provided in previous years, and are expected to manage within the funding provided. The issue of running out of funding should not arise as schools are responsible for operating the scheme within their allocation and to ensure that value for money is provided.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.