Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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344. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated full-year cost of providing free school meals for all post-primary school pupils in public schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28861/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The objective of the School Meals 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. Following the expansion of the Programme in recent years, some 2,600 schools and organisations, covering 443,000 children are now eligible for funding.

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. The school meals programme operates for 33 weeks in an academic year for all post-primary schools.

Using the maximum rate of €2.45 daily per pupil (consisting of both a breakfast and a cold lunch with a drink) the estimated full-year cost of providing free school meals to all DEIS and Non-DEIS post-primary pupils is €168.4 million.

Using the maximum rate of €3.25 daily per pupil (consisting of both a breakfast and a dinner with a drink) the estimated full-year cost of providing free school meals to all DEIS and Non-DEIS post-primary pupils is €223.4 million.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.