Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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95. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will review the schools lunch programme with a view to expanding it throughout school holidays; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17130/20]

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.

Following the announcement of the closure of schools due to the Covid-19 pandemic on 12^thMarch 2020, schools and organisations participating in the school meals programme expressed concerns about the impact of school closures on pupils who avail of school meals, and that the unavailability of school meals impacts in particular on the most disadvantaged in our society.

My Department confirmed that funding to schools would continue to enable schools to provide food until the end of the current school year - the end of May 2020 for post-primary schools and the end of June 2020 for primary schools, in line with the parameters of the school meals scheme, including the 2 week Easter holiday.  This funding was further extended to allow schools who choose to continue to provide food during the summer period until the start of the new academic year 2020/2021.  The extension of the school meals programme over the summer months will be provided for within the budget of €61.6 million for 2020.

Any decision to extend the school meals programme further will need to be considered in a budgetary context.

I trust that this clarifies the position for the deputy.