Written answers

Thursday, 28 January 2021

Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection

School Meals Programme

Photo of Rose Conway-WalshRose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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177. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the details regarding the continuation of school meals during Covid restriction particularly in relation to the frequency of deliveries; the quality of food provided; the nutritional value of the food provided; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4780/21]

Photo of Heather HumphreysHeather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The school meals programme provides funding towards the provision of food to some 1,557 schools and organisations benefitting 227,000 children. The objective of the programme 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.

My Department confirmed that funding for the school meals programme will remain in place during the current period of school closures. This mirrors the arrangements that were in place during the school closures in 2020, when the majority of schools in the school meals programme continued to provide food to children, largely through the home delivery of food parcels by suppliers. The frequency of deliveries is a decision for the school and their supplier. The majority of schools opt to provide a weekly or fortnightly food parcel.

The arrangements will not change from when schools closed previously: namely that the schools may continue to avail of the funding and they may continue to provide food consistent with normal funding terms and conditions. Schools must ensure that they continue to satisfy all public health guidelines.

In May 2020, my Department issued a survey to the schools and organisations on the school meals programme to ascertain the level of provision of food that was been maintained following the school closures. Responses were received from 1,274 of the 1,352 schools and organisations issued with the survey. Based on these responses the following are some findings:

- 1,034 schools continued to provide food, supporting 86,000 children;

- 15 schools were providing food daily, 391 weekly, 280 fortnightly, 242 monthly and 106 indicated ‘other’;

- Food was being collected by the parents in 225 schools, otherwise it is being delivered to the homes of pupils by suppliers or with the help of volunteers.

Nutritional standards apply to the school meals programme. The nutritional standards for school meals were published in 2017 under the auspices of Healthy Ireland, the national framework which aims to improve the health and wellbeing of the entire population of Ireland. The standards aim to ensure that children and young people in schools participating in the scheme are provided with healthy balanced meals that follow the Healthy Eating Guidelines. These standards are a valuable resource to enable and promote healthy eating and healthy lifestyles in schools.

I trust that this clarifies the position for the Deputy.

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