# Holiday hunger bill to face final Stormont hurdle

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/holiday-hunger-bill-to-face-final-stormont-hurdle/
- Published: 2026-11-10T06:21:02+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-10T07:23:04+00:00
- Original publisher: BBC Business (publisher lean: Centre)
- Original article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmewewgvrwpqo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss
- Topics: Business, Culture, Food, Travel

## Key points

- MLAs are set to vote on holiday food payments for eligible families.
- The scheme could cost the education budget £20m a year.
- Northern Ireland has had no government-funded holiday food support since 2023.

## Summary

The Northern Ireland Assembly is due to take a final vote on a bill to provide holiday food payments to families whose children receive free school meals. Supporters say the payments would help ease food costs and child poverty during school breaks, when school meals are unavailable.

The bill was introduced by Sinn Féin MLA Danny Baker and would cover families with annual household income below £15,390. Education Minister Paul Givan says it would cost his department £20m a year, which it cannot afford; Northern Ireland is currently the only UK region without government-funded holiday food support, after a £27-per-fortnight grant ended in 2023.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.