To ask the Minister of Education to detail (i) the schools in County Down currently without school meals provision due to staff shortages; (ii) any contingency measures in place to ensure all pupils in these schools continue to have access to school meals; and (iii) when full school meal provision will be reinstated in these schools.

There are currently no schools in County Down without school meals provision. Due to staffing issues, the Education Authority (EA) is currently only able to offer a packed lunch service to all pupils at Downshire Primary School.

The EA has a number of contingencies in place when disruption to school meal provision occurs and these are considered in the following order:

Meals can be transported from another school with a production kitchen if it has sufficient capacity;

Prepared meals can brought into the school, providing there are sufficient staff and oven capacity available to heat/ serve the meals;

Packed lunch service can be offered to all pupils, subject to the capacity of the external provider;

Packed lunches can be provided for pupils entitled to free school meals only, subject to the capacity of the external provider.

EA Catering will continue to prioritise the resumption of a normal meals service in Downshire Primary School as soon as staff are in position to ensure meals can be prepared and served in a safe environment, meeting food safety regulations. As this is dependent on staff returning to work and/or the completion of a recruitment process, it is not possible to provide a definitive date.