Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 February 2026
820. Deputy Marie Sherlock asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the estimated cost of abolishing the parental levy on the school milk scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14311/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraIreland receives a fixed annual funding allocation for the School Milk Scheme from the EU Commission of €826,537. My Department may also make supporting national Exchequer funding available. In the current year, this is €200,000. This is to meet the necessary expenditure not covered under the EU allocation.
Parents of pupils participating in the EU school milk scheme who attend DEIS classified schools are exempt from a parental contribution for their children's participation in the EU school milk scheme and accordingly receive school milk free of charge. A parental contribution is in place for those pupils attending non-DEIS classified schools.
The parental contribution is bridges the cost of the milk charged by the national suppliers and the financial allocation made available to Ireland from the EU. This is necessary in order to support the wider availability of the EU school milk scheme to those pupils from non-DEIS schools who choose to enroll, so enabling greater participation in the scheme.
The rate of the parental levy depends on the price charged by the individual milk suppliers to the schools. This price can change per school year and can vary per supplier.
The parental contribution is not income received by the State, but is paid by the schools concerned directly to their school milk supplier. Accordingly, these costs are not readily available to my Department. For the school year 2024/2025 it is estimated to be in the amount of approximately €140,000. The aim is, and has been, to keep the parental contribution as low as possible and the parental contribution, per child per week, of enrolment in the scheme, for the current school year does not exceed €1.40 on a national basis.
A previous evaluation of the EU School Milk Scheme has shown that the parental contribution is not a significant detriment to the voluntary enrolment by a parent, of their child (attending a non-DEIS school), in the daily distribution scheme, in order to inform healthy eating habits of children at an early age and supporting their nutritional requirements.
