Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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55. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the steps she has taken to ensure the hot schools meal programme complies with nutritional standards. [43552/19]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The school meals programme provides funding towards the provision of food to some 1,580 schools and organisations benefitting 250,000 children at a total cost of €57.6 million in 2019.

In Budget 2019, I announced that my Department would commence a pilot scheme from September 2019, providing Hot School Meals in 36 primary schools for an estimated 7,200 children.  The principal aim of this pilot scheme is to understand what works, and to learn how best the programme can be rolled out on a wider basis.

The 36 schools chosen to participate in the pilot were selected randomly, having regard to geographical spread, numbers enrolled, range of suppliers and the overall budget available for the pilot.  

The pilot is also run in Our Lady of Lourdes NS in Goldenbridge for the 2019/20 school year following the Proof of Concept which had been operating there successfully.

To be considered for the pilot, the school must have identified a supplier who will supply, including preparing and delivering, the hot meals in compliance with the Healthy Ireland ‘Nutrition Standards for School Meals’.  The introduction of new nutrition standards mean that only healthy food choices that meet these standards will be funded for breakfast clubs, school lunches and snacks, afterschool clubs and school dinners.

These standards are a valuable resource to enable and promote healthy eating and healthy lifestyles in schools.  They complement and strengthen the healthy eating guidelines that were already in place.

In terms of assessing whether schools meet the requirements set out in the standards, schools are required to submit detailed records at the end of each school year.  Expenditure on unhealthy food items is deducted from the funding allocation.

Department officials visit and liaise with the schools throughout the year to ensure that the criteria are being adhered to including an assessment of the type of food provided.  All of the participating schools are required to sign off on a service level agreement which sets out the responsibilities of participants.