Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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131. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 470 of 25 October 2022, the status of the review of the school meals programme; if the review group is on track to complete the final report in November 2022, as per the target date; when the final report will be published; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59714/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The School Meals Programme provides funding towards the provision of food services to some 1,600 schools and organisations benefitting 260,000 children. The objective of the programme is to provide regular, nutritious food to children to position them 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. This represents a 49% funding increase in the period since 2020.

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.

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 evaluation will also help to inform future decisions around this important programme.

The final report is on schedule to be completed by the end of the year and will be published thereafter.

I trust this clarifies the matter.