The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) is currently seeking tenders from researchers to carry out an evaluation of the EU School Scheme in Ireland.

In line with EU requirements, the department wants to measure the effectiveness of the current strategy for the School Milk Scheme and the Food Dudes Programme.

The research will determine if the strategy has been successful in achieving or progressing towards its objectives, and to what extent.

The main objective of the evaluation is to assess the extent both the Food Dudes Programme and the School Milk Scheme has increased the consumption of fruit, vegetables, and milk products by children in line with national recommendations.

The EU School Milk Scheme is implemented in primary schools in Ireland under the Moo Crew Healthy Eating Programmes and is managed by the National Dairy Council (NDC).

It is also open to pre-school establishments and secondary schools but participation in this cohort of schools is minimal compared to primary schools' participation levels.

The scheme involves the distribution of drinking milk to children on a daily basis in participating schools.

Milk is supplied to these schools on a charged basis by their local participating dairy co-op.

Participation in the School Milk Scheme had declined at a rate of approximately 20% per annum between 2010 and 2017.

Reasons for falling participation included the level of parental contribution being too high, children opting to drink water over milk, spillages, food waste, adoption by children of non-dairy lifestyles, and the storage of milk in schools.

In the first year of a department strategy (2017/18), participation numbers stabilised, and in the second and third years, modest increases were achieved.

However, the outbreak of the COVID -19 pandemic in Ireland in March 2020 and the subsequent closure of schools had significant adverse impact on participation numbers.

When schools reopened in full in September 2022, a sizable number of schools declined to re-join the scheme.

In 2023/2024 academic year, 369 schools (29,701 pupils) were participating in the scheme, compared to 592 schools (53,517 pupils) in the 2019/2020 academic year.

The scheme takes place under a six-year strategy for the implementation of the EU School Schemes in Ireland running from the August 1, 2023 to July 31, 2029.

The EU fixed annual allocation for the School Milk Scheme in Ireland for the 2023-2029 period is €826,537. This is supported by a national budget for activities not covered by the EU funds.

Additionally, a parental levy applies in non-disadvantaged schools (approximately €1 per child per week). School milk is free to children attending disadvantaged schools.

The Food Dudes Programme has been running in Ireland for over 20 years. The scheme is delivered and managed by Bord Bia who sub-contract to several companies the day-to-day running of the scheme

The programme aims to increase fruit and vegetable consumption amongst primary school children through repeated tasting of the foods over a 16-day period.

1,527 primary schools (224,618 pupils) participated in the Food Dudes Programme in the 2023/2024 academic year, down from 1,883 schools in the previous year.

In Ireland, sourcing of product for Food Dudes is through a single centralised supplier on the basis of open public tender procurement competition.

According to the tender documents, the designated supplier, where possible, sources home grown fruit/vegetables for the programme from local, seasonal, and sustainable Quality Assured producers.

However, as certain fruits and vegetables are not naturally grown in Ireland, some are imported.

The EU fixed annual allocation for the School Fruit and Vegetables Scheme in Ireland for the 2023-2029 period is €1,889,775.

Again, these EU funds are supplemented by a national budget to support activities not covered.

The successful tenderer will be required to perform an evaluation of the implementation of the school scheme over the next four years.

The evaluation of the 2023-2029 strategy will be undertaken with a final report to be submitted by the DAFM to the EU Commission by March 1, 2029.

In order to meet this statutory deadline, the draft final report must be submitted to the department by October 15, 2028.

"In addition to measuring the effectiveness of the scheme, the analysis should include recommendations for improvements to the scheme," the tender document stated.

The closing date for the tender, which has estimated value €450,000 excluding VAT, is 5:00p.m on Friday, April 25, 2025.