Romanian gypsies who have managed to get to Northern Ireland are now being given free meals for their children, courtesy of the British taxpayer.
The ruling has been made by Sinn Féin politician and member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for South Down, Caitriona Ruane, who is also Education Minister for the province.
Prior to Ms Ruane’s ruling, immigrant children in the Belfast area from Roma families had been excluded from free lunches.
Children cannot get free school meals unless their parents are claiming some sort of benefit. That ruled out the “Roma” children because of the status of Romania in the European Union.
The Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities said it had told Roma families from Romania that since they were not entitled to take paid employment and could not claim benefits, they should return to their home country.
A south Belfast principal, whose school has more than 30 Roma children, complained about the exclusion and the decision was made to fund the free meals.
Originally, the Department of Education had said it would give schools £7,000 to tide them over until the new financial year. However on Tuesday, Ms Ruane went further and agreed that the children should get the free school meals.
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How about a free flight home and a strong incentive towards any ethnic groups from countries that are not in the European union,don’t travel to Northern Ireland or they will be flown home asap.No free meals except on the flight home!I would think that Northern Ireland is not wealthy enough to support impoverished migrants with free meals and medical care and any else for free.What’s the matter with the Romanian government?
Good luck getting them to go home now.