Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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675. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost to extend the school meals programme into the summer months in 2021 for all current participants. [22165/21]

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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677. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost of providing free school meals to all children participating in summer provision or DEIS summer camp programmes in summer 2021. [22167/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 675 and 677 together.

The school meals programme provides funding towards the provision of food to some 1,557 schools and organisations benefiting 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. 

The funding available to schools is based on the school year (September to May/June, i.e., 180 days or 36 weeks for primary schools and 165 days or 33 weeks for secondary schools).  If the existing provision was to continue for the summer months in 2021 (9 weeks for primary schools and 13 weeks for secondary schools), the additional cost would be €17.2m.

Funding for the provision of meals for the DEIS Summer Camp Programme is not currently included in the School Meals Programme.  I am aware, from discussions with my colleague the Minister for Education, that in order to support the alleviation of learning loss and the transition of learners back to in-class education, an enhanced programme of summer provision for children with additional needs and those who are experiencing educational disadvantage, similar to what was provided in summer 2020 is being developed.  The details of how it will operate will be worked through with the education partners in the coming months.

The cost of provision of school meals will therefore be determined by the number of pupils partaking in a summer provision programme to be announced, the details of which are currently being worked through.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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676. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of children participating in the school meals programme; and the number of children participating in the hot meals programme. [22166/21]

Heather 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.

As part of Budget 2019, funding was provided for a pilot scheme from September 2019, providing hot school meals in primary schools at a cost of €1m for 2019 and €2.5m in 2020.  The pilot involved 37 schools benefitting 6,744 students for the 2019/2020 academic year and was aimed primarily at schools with no onsite cooking facilities.  32 schools involved in the pilot continue to provide hot school meals for the 2020/2021 academic year. Three of the pilot schools have reverted to a cold lunch and two have left the scheme.

In Budget 2021, I announced that an additional €5.5m would be provided to extend the provision of hot school meals to an additional 35,000 primary school children, currently receiving the cold lunch option.   189 schools have been selected and officials from my department are currently engaging with these schools to commence the provision of hot school meals.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.