Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 June 2026
629. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost of providing the school meals programme to all post-primary schools in the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45673/26]
View answerIn Budget 2025, it was announced that the Hot School Meals Programme would be extended to all remaining primary schools in 2025, meaning that approximately 3,700 schools and 682,000 children are now eligible for school meals. This equates to the distribution of up to 3.4 million school meals per week.
The budget for the School Meals Scheme for 2026 is €286 million.
My immediate priority is an in-depth review of school meal supplier menus and their compliance with the nutritional standards. My Department seconded a CORU-registered dietician for the School Meals Scheme who is under the clinical supervision of the Department of Health to carry out this review. The review is underway with the final report due the end of June 2026.
As part of the Programme for Government, I plan to commence the rollout of Hot School Meals to secondary schools over the lifetime of this Government. Following the completion of the nutritional review, we need to examine how best to commence the roll out of the Hot School Meals to secondary schools. We have not yet determined the approach we will take; therefore, it is not possible to provide a cost estimate at this time.
I trust this clarifies the matter.
