Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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861. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if consideration will be given to continuing the school meals programme during the summer months to keep providing food parcels to children who are at risk of food poverty in view of the fact many summer projects are not operating as normal in 2020 due the Covid-19 emergency; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13620/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, 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.  The objective of the scheme is to provide regular, nutritious food to children who are unable, due to lack of good quality food, to take full advantage of the education provided to them.  The programme is an important component of policies to encourage school attendance and extra educational achievement and coincides with the school year.

Funding under the school meals programme will remain available to schools to allow them to continue to provide food during the summer period until the start of the new academic year 2020/2021.

I trust that this clarifies the position.