Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 November 2025
146. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of schools still waiting on the national roll out of the hot school meals programme; the communication her Department has had with providers of the hot school meals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59396/25]
View answerThe objective of the School Meals Programme is to provide regular, nutritious food to children to support them in taking full advantage of the education provided to them. The programme is an important component of policies to encourage school attendance and extra educational achievement.
The Nutritional Standards for School Meals have been in place since its inception and were developed by a technical Nutrition Subgroups comprised of:
• Dieticians from the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute of Ireland,
• The HSE,
• Safefood, and
• The Food Safety Authority of Ireland.
These standards are available to all schools, organisations and suppliers and are publicly available on gov.ie
The rollout of the Hot School Meals Scheme has been on a phased basis since the pilot programme was launch in 2019 with 37 schools.
In April 2024 908 Schools became eligible to join the programme. Of those 97% of Schools availed of the Hot School Meals Scheme with 1.4 % opting for the cold lunch option. Once schools become eligible to join the programme, they must conduct procurement to obtain a school meals provider and also set up a separate bank accounts for school meals funds. Both of these can take several weeks to complete.
The total number of schools and children benefitting from the Hot School Meals Programme in the last academic year 2024/2025 was 2,064 schools and 332,593 pupils.
As announced in budget 2025 all 3,200 primary schools and 550,000 children will be eligible for the Hot School Meals Programme in the 2025-2025 academic school year. This academic year started a few weeks ago and applications are continuing to be received.
In April 2025 officials of my Department met with suppliers to outline the refinements to the procurement process, the exclusion of the foods high in fat, salt and sugar, the recruitment of a dietitian to assist in the School Meals Programme and suppliers responsibilities. My departments website was also updated to ensure all suppliers were kept informed.
I trust this clarifies the matter.
