Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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353. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will roll out a pilot scheme for secondary level schools replicating the ‘Worryfree’ period poverty campaign being run by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2921/23]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government (PFG) includes the commitment to ‘provide a range of free, adequate, safe, and suitable period products in all educational publicly-funded settings (including schools, colleges and HEIs), to ensure that no students are disadvantaged in their education by period poverty.’

The Government also took the decision in 2021 to support the Private Members’ Bill, the Free Provision of Period Products Bill, 2021 (Bill 4) which seeks to make period products freely available to all those who need them. It has also been agreed that the recommendations of the 2021 Discussion Paper on Period Poverty in Ireland will be taken into account in the development of the Bill.

To co-ordinate all of the work here, an inter-departmental group (IDG) led by the Department of Health has been established. My Department along with a number of other Departments including the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS) is participating in the work of the group.

The outcomes from the 'Worryfree' period poverty campaign, launched last year as a pilot initiative in 9 colleges across 6 Education and Training Boards will be shared by DFHERIS with the IDG and will inform the work of my Department to support and implement the PFG commitment to ensure no students are disadvantaged in their education by period poverty.