Paul Murphy: Demands Answers Over Hot School Meals Cut at St Aidan's
Paul Murphy raised concerns about the removal of hot school meal entitlement for St Aidan's Senior National School and pressed for action on child poverty targets and a new child-poverty unit. He questioned why a DEIS band one school had been told it is no longer eligible and asked for the details to be investigated.
Hot school meals at St Aidan's
Paul Murphy said St Aidan's in Brookfield, Talla was previously told by the department that it was entitled to access the hot meal scheme, had made arrangements with a supplier and prepared facilities, but was recently informed it was no longer eligible. He described the decision as not making sense and offered to have the details looked into if they were provided.
Childhood disability networks and transfer of functions
He noted that childhood disability networks will not fall under the remit of the new child-poverty unit and that responsibility will transfer to the minister whose department will receive disability functions. The transfer of those disability functions is scheduled to take place on 1st March.
Road map and child poverty targets
Murphy outlined the road map for social inclusion as the national strategy for poverty reduction, which incorporates existing child poverty targets and the national framework for children and young people. He referenced a target requiring a 66% reduction in children in consistent poverty by the end of 2021 and described the aim to reduce the share of children at risk of poverty and social exclusion from around 24% to 16% by the EU reporting year 2025.
New child-poverty unit and timeline
He said preparatory work is underway to establish a unit aimed at delivering strategic leadership, enhanced accountability and tangible improvements for children and families, with the aim of having the unit established by the end of March and a clear work plan in place.
Public model of childcare and pilot suggestion
Murphy said the public model of childcare should be examined and suggested speaking to the minister responsible about piloting a small number of publicly provided childcare facilities to compare quality, cost and reliability with the private sector. He also praised services such as Barnardos and local Family Resource Centres for their value and return on investment.
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When the Taoiseach became Taoiseach again he spoke about his vision to make Ireland the best country in Europe to be a child and the point has already been made about hot school meals and the very substantial impact that that can have for children but then why is at least one school but presumably others in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the country having their entitlement to hot school meals removed that's what's happening to St Aidan's Senior National School in Brookfield in Talla they were previously told that by the department that they were entitled to access the hot meal scheme they made arrangements with glamour foods they put in industrial ovens the pupils completed their food orders and then recently they've been informed that their school is not entitled to access the hot food school meal scheme even though it's a Dash band one school doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever I just want to thank the deputies for their contributions Deputy Farrell has raised the issue in particular of the childhood disability networks and they won't specifically fall under the remit of the new unit that will obviously fall to Minister Rabbit and the transfer of disability functions to her new department or the department of children equality and youth integration will be happening on the 1st of March Deputy Farrell has raised the issue and it is very relevant to the wellbeing aspect of the unit's work and I hear the frustration that parents have and endure when it comes to not being able to get assessments of need or particularly when it comes to not being able to get the treatments and therapies that their children need I had the chance in the past few weeks to spend some time in Bernardos in my own constituency and also with the Family Resource Centre in Kildare and Newbridge and I recognise the very good value that we get from the services they provide it is money well spent and the return of investment is a very good one and these are areas where we will invest more in the years to come on the issue of the hot school meals I think it's a really great program a big fan of it I don't know the details of St Aidan's and why they're no longer on the program if the deputy wants to send me on the details I'll certainly have it looked into on the road map for social inclusion as we know it's our national strategy for poverty reduction and improve social inclusion it includes a specific chapter in helping children and families with the goal of reducing child poverty and ensuring that all families can participate fully in society the road map incorporates the national child poverty target identified in in Bob F and better outcomes brighter futures the national framework for children and young people requiring a 66 per cent reduction in the number of children in consistent poverty by the end of 2021 we had to be very much going in the right direction in that regard in recent years but the pandemic and the cost of living crisis which has followed has thrown that I think and unfortunately I suspect that will show up in the numbers quite soon the road map includes two commitments specifically relating to child poverty targets one is to establish and report on a new target in respect of child poverty to improve Ireland's ranking from 20th to getting us into the top five for the EU silk reporting year of 2025 and this will be the equivalent of reducing the percentage of children under 18 at risk of poverty and social exclusion from around 24 per cent to 16 per cent and also to continue to report on progress against the national target for reducing the number of children experiencing consistent poverty by the end of 2020 and then set a new target for the period to the end of 2025 consistent with any revised EU targets in relation to the unit itself the aim as I mentioned earlier is to have the unit established by the end of March with a clear work plan and preparatory work is underway in that regard further work and engagement will inform the scope and program of work for the unit the aim is to ensure that the unit brings added value as well as strategic leadership and enhanced accountability to the child poverty agenda and makes a tangible difference to the lives of children's and families I know the issue of a public model of child care has been mentioned I'll have to speak to Minister O'Gorman about that perhaps the right way to approach it if it hasn't been done already is a pilot of a few public provided child care facilities see how they work and see how they compare it to private sector in terms of quality and cost and reliability and so on and then perhaps take it from there Thank you very much Thank you very much
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