Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 6 May 2026
424. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Education and Youth to outline the policy on private companies offering free cooking demonstrations in primary schools, which could be seen as an opportunity to promote their products for sale; whether this is a decision solely for the board of management of a school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32836/26]
View answerSchool management, principals and teachers have a duty to provide the best quality and the most appropriate education to their students in their local context.
Choices regarding educational services are made by individual schools and their boards of management, not by the Department. Schools are free to choose whatever resources they feel supports the delivery of the curriculum in their school.
My Department provides clear guidance to schools on the engagement of outside speakers and on the use of external resources to assist in delivering the curriculum. These guidelines are most recently outlined in updated circular 0042/2018 for primary schools and 0043/2018 for post primary schools.
Where an external facilitator is engaged by a school, he or she should be engaged in the context of delivering a planned and comprehensive programme in the school. The facilitator should not be brought in to replace the school programme but to enhance it. External facilitators always work under the guidance and supervision of the relevant classroom teacher who remains in the classroom with the students at all times and retains a central role in the delivery of the subject matter.
External facilitators and the materials they propose to use should be approved by the principal and board of management, in consultation with the relevant teaching staff. The guidelines provided also outline the requirements of facilitators and materials in terms of appropriateness to the age and development stage of students as well as overarching school programmes.
The guidance provided by my Department in circulars 0042/2018 and 0043/2018 aims to support school authorities in providing the best possible education to their students while protecting students from any potentially harmful, inappropriate or misguided resources, interventions or programmes.
