European Parliament candidate and Minister of State Andrew Doyle has said that he is “hopeful” EU funding will see free dairy produce provided to primary schools across the country.

The EU School Fruit, Vegetable and Milk Scheme will provide over €3 million to Ireland for promoting healthy eating habits in Irish schools; Doyle has called on all primary schools to sign up.

He highlighted statistics that show that half of Irish children are not eating the daily requirement of fruit, vegetables and milk.

The Wicklow TD and Minister of State for Food, Forestry and Horticulture will be running in the Ireland South constituency in this month’s European Parliament election.

“This scheme is there to help schools by distributing these healthy food products, while delivering educational programmes about how food is produced, and the importance of good nutrition,” said Doyle.

During the coming 2019-2020 school year, Ireland will receive €3.3 million for the provision of these foods: €2.3 million for fruit and vegetables and just over €1 million for milk.

“These allocations are based on the number of school children in Ireland and, for milk, on the uptake in previous schemes. This is supported by additional Government funding,” Doyle explained.

Schools Milk Scheme

He expressed his concern that the number of schools participating in the Schools Milk Scheme has been declining. In the eight years prior to the 2017-2018 school year, the number of participating schools had fallen by over 50%.

Doyle identified levy charges on parents as a “major barrier” to schools’ uptake of the scheme.

“Participation levels in schools which did not charge a parental levy were on average 400% greater than schools that did charge a parental levy,” he claimed.

A pilot model has been to eliminate this charge in order to encourage children to avail of portions of milk, yoghurt and cheese. I am hopeful that this year’s EU funding allocation for this programme will see this pilot of free dairy produce rolled out on a broader basis around the country.

He concluded by urging all principals to register their schools for these schemes.

“It is never too early to learn about the production and health benefits of good food, and this learning should be happening in the classroom, as well as at home,” he said.