Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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42. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she is aware that the hot school meals programme is not serving disabled children as the prescribed menu does not have sufficient flexibility to allow for children with dietary restrictions to be adequately provided for, and that the programme funding cannot be used for bringing in someone to cook, even if the school and chef have agreed a price for nutritious and varied meals less than the total monies already being provided to the school for the purpose of hot school meals. [26240/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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As Minister, I have grown the Hot School Meals Programme from a small pilot project to a nationwide programme now approved in 2,200 primary schools nationwide.

In April 2024, my Department contacted the remaining 1,000 primary schools, who have not yet joined the Hot School Meals scheme, asking them if they wished to submit an expression of interest in commencing the provision of Hot School Meals. My Department is currently collating the responses received with the aim of including more schools, subject to available funding in Budget 2025.

The school referred to by the Deputy has been receiving funding under the School Meals Programme since the 2016/2017 school year and has been funded for Hot School Meals since the 2023/2024 school year.

Funding under this programme is solely for food and is made available on the basis of a set price per meal per child per day. It is not possible for the funding to be used to recruit a cook or for the school to negotiate other arrangements locally.

All schools who wish to avail of funding are responsible for choosing their school meals 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.

Responsibility for sourcing the meals is a matter for each school, but to secure funding they must first agree to apply the standards set out by signing a Service Level Agreement. This clearly sets out the school’s responsibilities and obligations in terms of Nutritional Standards for School Meals, which were developed by a working group led by the Health and Wellbeing Programme in the Department of Health, in consultation with Safefood and the Healthy Eating and Active Living Programme in the Health Service Executive.

It is each school’s responsibility to source a supplier that can meet the dietary requirements of all their pupils. Each school is required to provide a menu choice of at least two different meals per day and where required, provide a vegetarian/vegan option and an option that caters for students’ religious and cultural dietary requirements and medical conditions. The food provided for those with allergies/ conditions must comply with the standards. Guidance on allergies such as coeliac disease and gluten intolerance is available from Safefood.ie.

As such, the Hot School Meals Programme is specifically designed to cater for the dietary needs of the children.

The Department provides the funding directly to the schools, who are then required to procure the provision of the food in compliance with public procurement rules and with relevant Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point, Food Safety regulations and the Nutritional Standards for School Meals.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.