Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

494. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will detail, in tabular form a breakdown on a county-by-county basis of the 150,000 school children that will benefit from the expansion of the Hot School Meals Programme. [55065/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The School Meals Programme provides funding towards the provision of food services to some 1,700 schools and organisations benefitting 300,000 children. The objective of the programme is to provide regular, nutritious food to children to support them in taking 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 2023 provided €94.4 million for the programme. In February, the Government approved an additional €14.5m to allow access to the Hot School Meals scheme for all remaining DEIS primary schools from September 2023. Budget 2024 has increased the funding by an extra €42.5m.

I am committed to continuing to expand the School Meals Programme and building further on the significant extension of the programme that has taken place in recent years. As part of this significant expansion plan, all remaining primary schools were contacted and requested to submit an expression of interest form if their school is interested in commencing the provision of hot school meals.

Expressions of interests were received from over 900 Primary Schools in respect of 150,000 children and this week these schools were invited to participate in the Hot School Meals Programme from April 2024.

A breakdown on a county-by-county basis of the 150,000 school children that would benefit from the expansion of the Hot School Meals Programme is contained in the attached tabular statement.

I trust this clarifies the matter.

County Breakdown of pupils to receive Hot School Meals from 2024