Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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716. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated full-year cost if the maximum rate of payment per child per day for breakfast-snack were increased to €1, cold lunch to €2, dinner to €2.75 and hot meal to €3.90 under the school meals programme. [55363/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The School Meals Programme provides funding towards the provision of food services to some 1,700 schools and organisations and benefitting 260,000 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.

Budget 2022 provided €68.1 million for the programme with an additional €9m provided to allow access to all new DEIS schools from September 2022. Additional funding for the programme has been provided for 2023 bringing the total to €91.6m.

Funding under the school meals programme can be provided for breakfast, snack, cold lunch, dinner, hot school meals and afterschool clubs and is based on a maximum rate per child per day, depending on the type of meal being provided.

It is estimated that there will be 188,000 children receiving the breakfast/snack option for the 2022/2023 school year when all applications are received and processed. If the maximum rate of payment per child per day for the breakfast/snack was increased to €1, this would represent a 67% increase in price. The full year cost for this would be €13m.

It is estimated there will be 133,000 children receiving the cold lunch option. If the maximum rate of payment per child per day for the cold lunch option was increased to €2, this would represent a 43% increase. The full year cost would be €14m.

It is estimated there will be 41,000 children receiving the dinner option. If the maximum rate of payment per child per day for the dinner option was increased to €2.75, this would represent a 45% increase. The full year cost of this would be €6m.

The estimated full-year cost if the maximum rate of payment per child per day for the hot school meal were increased to €3.90 - a 35% increase - is €16m in respect of an estimated 88,000 children. The estimated total cost is €49m.

I am committed to continuing to expand the school meals programme and building further on the significant extension of the programme in recent years. In this regard, I commissioned the evaluation of the school meals programme to review all elements of the programme including the funding rates currently being provided for the various meal options. The final report is due to be completed by the end of the year and will help to inform future decisions around this important programme.

I trust this clarifies the matter.