Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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273. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the total underspend or overspend against the estimate provided for school meals in 2021 and to date in 2022; the reason for the variation in each case; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [60034/22]

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 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. This represents a 49% funding increase in the period since 2020.

In 2021, the original estimate was €65.1m with a supplementary estimate of €61.5m provided. Expenditure was €58.4m which was due to schools been closed for a period due to Covid 19 level 5 restrictions in the first quarter of 2021 and some schools deferring the commencement of the hot school meals.

For 2022, it is expected that expenditure on the school meals programe for the year will be in line with the estimate of €77.1m. The newly designated DEIS schools that can apply for the School Meals Programme from September 2022 had no previous experience regarding the provision of school meals and had a number of logistical and financial requirements to consider prior to submitting an application. This included identifying the delivery model that best suits their school and a supplier who can deliver to these requirements.

This resulted in the need for a lead-in time for some schools before submitting their application for funding. Officials have been liaising with schools regarding their participation in the scheme and there has been an increase in applications submitted in recent weeks.

I trust this clarifies the matter.