Today, a new justice of the Supreme Court gave his oath of office before the plenary of the Riigikogu, and ministers replied to ten interpellations.

Justice of the Supreme Court Vahur-Peeter Liin took the oath of office before the Riigikogu.

The Riigikogu heard ministers’ replies to 10 interpellations

The Prime Minister Kaja Kallas replied to the interpellation concerning the reasons why the coalition agreement had not included an increase in the minimum rate of school meal subsidy (No. 23), submitted by members of the Riigikogu, that, under the law, it was the task of local governments to guarantee school lunch. “State funding of school meals by the state is goodwill and not an obligation of the state. If school meals need additional funding, either the local government must find funds, or they must be found in an agreement with the local community,” the Prime Minister noted.

Kallas added that, according to the 2021 report of the Global School Feeding Survey, Estonia was one of the countries that granted the largest financing to school meals in Europe as well as globally, both as targeted support from the state budget and as a local government contribution for school lunch, to which were added the organic food measure, and fruit and vegetable and school milk measures. “We have agreed that we will increase the preference for organic produce with nudging measures. Therefore, we will continue to compensate the use of organic raw materials in schools and nurseries to support the formation of healthy eating habits in children,” she added. She specified that additional funds to the extent of a total of 3.5 million euro would be allocated for that over four years. 0.5 million euro in 2024 and 2025, 1 million in 2026, and 1.5 million additional euro in 2027. “We have earmarked 1,250,000 euro of subsidy for this activity. The subsidy to offer children fruits and vegetables, and milk and dairy products will also continue. This will contribute to the formation of healthy eating habits in children.”

Kallas also replied to the interpellations concerning the funding of comprehensive national defence (No. 25), the implementation of the green transition (No. 27), the building of new capacities in military national defence (No. 30) and the shortcomings in the preparation for times of crisis, and the role of the State Secretary (No. 26).

The Minister of Regional Affairs Madis Kallas replied to the interpellations concerning Ida-Viru County (No. 12), the sustainability of the postal service in Estonia (No. 22) and the situation of Ida-Viru County (No. 56), and the Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas replied to the interpellations concerning the transition to Estonian as the language of instruction (No. 31) and the fate of rural schools (No. 24), submitted by members of the Riigikogu.

The sitting ended at 7.56 p.m.

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)

Video recordings of the sittings of the Riigikogu can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/riigikogu.
(Please note that the recording will be uploaded with a delay.)

Riigikogu Press Service
Maris Meiessaar
Phone: +372 631 6353, +372 5558 3993
E-mail: [email protected]
Questions: [email protected]