Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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478. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide an update on the evaluation process for school meals programmes; the measures taken to address issues such as waste and inconsistency in implementation across different locations; and if there are plans to improve the overall effectiveness of these programmes. [29327/24]

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.

In March 2023, I published an independent evaluation of the School Meals Programme which sets out the positive impact the Programme is having in terms of children’s education and wellbeing. The key finding was an overwhelming consensus among all participants in the evaluation that the Programme is effective.

Taking account of the remaining recommendations of the evaluation, my Department is working to ensure that the Programme can operate and grow in a way that ensures standards are maintained, governance is robust, and that best use is being made of resources. This is being led by my Department in consultation with other stakeholders such as the Department of Education, Department of Health, Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and other relevant agencies, for example the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.

Funding under the programme is for food only, which must be of suitable quality and nutritional value, and prepared and consumed in an appropriate environment. All schools who wish to avail of funding are responsible for choosing their supplier on the open market in a fair and transparent manner in accordance with public procurement rules and the primary relationship is between school and supplier.

Under tender documentation as stipulated by the Schools Procurement’s Unit, the school meal supplier is responsible for operating policies which progressively addresses environmental considerations such as waste and packaging. The method and logistics of supplying the meals is decided by the school. In addition, under tender documentation as stipulated by the Schools Procurement’s Unit, the school is committed to the principles of environmental management in its activities, and it encourages the implementation of sustainability principles in its procurement practices and that the supplier should make all reasonable efforts to minimise adverse environmental impact in the methods of services delivery and in materials used.

My Department provides funding directly to schools to enable them to source and provide meals that meet the Healthy Ireland Nutritional Standards for Hot School Meals which were developed by a working group led by the Health and Wellbeing Programme, in consultation with Safefood and the Healthy Eating and Active Living Programme in the Health Service Executive.

Responsibility for sourcing the meals is a matter for the Board of Management of each school, but to secure funding they must first agree to apply the standards set out by signing a Service Level Agreement which clearly sets out the school’s responsibilities and obligations in terms of Nutritional Standards. Funding is not provided to schools who do not commit to this undertaking and can be withdrawn if they do not adhere to the standards set out.

My Department monitors adherence to the standards including through site visits. Under the existing audit process, some 400 schools are inspected annually by my Department. Officials of my Department also carry out ad hoc desk assessments and follows up on any issues that may be raised.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.