Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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451. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she has plans for a hot school meals programme expansion for 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47892/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The school meals programme provides funding towards the provision of food to some 1,506 schools and organisations benefitting 230,000 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.

A budget of €65.1 million has been provided for the scheme in 2021.

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.

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.

Any request for additional funding for a hot school meals programme expansion for 2022 and beyond will need to be considered as part of the budgetary process.

I am committed to continuing to grow the hot school meals element of the school meals programme and building further on the significant extension announced as part of Budget 2021.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.