I would like to raise an important issue with regard to St. Malachy's Mixed National School, St. Helena's Road, Finglas south. St. Malachy's is a mixed senior DEIS band 1 school and has been central to the community of Finglas south for almost 50 years. When it opened first, it catered for over 200 children. St. Malachy's was the third primary school in Finglas south along with St. Finian's National School and St. Oliver Plunkett's Junior National School. At its height from the early 1980s onwards, St. Malachy's had almost 600 children and 19 teachers. However, from the late eighties, numbers began to fall gradually and today there are 132 students. Currently, the school has a principal, seven class teachers, three special education teachers and one shared home school liaison officer. St. Oliver Plunkett's Junior National School has provided around 95% of the children to the school since the late 1970s. St. Malachy's became part of the DEIS programme of support for schools in 2005. It is also a trauma-informed school. The school ensures that there is a safe, nurturing and supportive environment for all of the students. For example, many of the children who attend St. Malachy's have experienced or are experiencing homelessness and this has had a major psychological effect on them and greatly impacted their education. That is why the school's participation in the school completion programme is so important. The school completion programme provides support for children and young people at risk of early school leaving. Through this programme, St. Malachy's has access to four play therapists, a breakfast club and a school transition programme, assisting the sixth class students with their transition to secondary school. The programme has proven to be very successful, as many students come from vulnerable communities. Through this programme, they are encouraged to complete their education, helping them to develop into confident and accomplished young people and young adults. However, it is a struggle for many of the children. Some come from as far away as Ashford because they are living in homeless accommodation. It would be difficult for an adult experiencing these circumstances, but it is 100 times more difficult for a small child to get themselves up and about to be in time for school in Finglas. It is no surprise that many of these children will not have a breakfast and probably will not have a proper meal until they get home late in the evening. This is why the provision of food at school is so important for these vulnerable children. Studies show that school food will significantly impact the student's physical and mental health by improving concentration, overall academic performance, and behaviour. St. Malachy's has made an application previously for funding for a breakfast club. It received funding for a so-called snack club and the provision of hot meals later in the day. The snack club provides pupils with some sliced apple, a rice cake or a similar thing each morning. They get two pieces of whatever is on offer. Breakfast is often said to be the most important meal of the day. For many of the children who go to St. Malachy's, it is an essential meal to start every day of their learning. Who knows when some had a meal at home after school? They might not have had any or it might have been so long since they ate last that whatever they have for breakfast in school might be essential to sustain them for the next few hours. St. Malachy's does not get any funding for a breakfast club. In the past, the school used any surplus money provided for the snack club and the hot meals programme to provide a basic breakfast for as many children as it could manage. The school completion programme does not provide any funding for staff to run a breakfast club. The individual who puts the breakfast together does so on a voluntary basis. The school has been told that it cannot use funds allocated for the snack club and the hot meals programme to be diverted into providing a breakfast for pupils. It should be the case that schools are the ones in the best position to decide how the children should be fed. It makes no sense that, if there is some surplus money out of the existing funds, it cannot be used to provide the most important meal of the day.

Sentiment score: 0.13

I thank the Minister of State. We are constantly being told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. To any child in homelessness or in a vulnerable circumstance, it is essential that the morning start with a proper breakfast. It is a credit to St. Malachy's that it has managed to provide a proper breakfast for some of its pupils. Funding for a snack club is simply not good enough. It is totally inadequate. There is also no funding available to run a breakfast club or for staff to run it. St. Malachy's does fund raising and also uses money left over from the snack club to provide some pupils with a breakfast. Funding should be allocated on a more general basis as being for the provision of meals for pupils. The position should be that the schools know best. They are the ones that should allocate the funding as they see fit. It should not be the case that there is some diktat on how funding should be spent on meals in schools such as St. Malachy's. I urge the Government to reconsider the Department's attitude with regard to how money is spent and to provide the necessary funding for breakfast clubs for this DEIS school. The Government constantly talks about DEIS schools. We know the work being done and how important these schools are, but to provide a meal that consists of just a small snack or similar is not good enough. There are a lot of very vulnerable kids in these schools, including in this school. We really need dedicated funding for our breakfast club and for those children to go to school in order that they can learn and are not going there hungry. That is so important. I therefore urge the Government to look at the way this money and this funding are being provided.

Sentiment score: 0.04