School Meals Programme: Statements
Seanad Éireann — 2026-09-30
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Dara Calleary (FF), Mayo

Before I begin, I put on record my sympathies to the family of the late Seamus Carroll. This is a very sad day for our Leinster House family. Seamus was one of our best ushers, always welcoming and helpful, and he always had great pride in this place. I send my sympathies to his family this evening, including his wife, children and grandchildren, and to his Leinster House family as well. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal.
I welcome the opportunity to address the House this evening on the school meals programme and, in particular, the findings of the recently published Nutrition Review Report of the Hot School Meals Scheme and the results of the IPSOS Behaviour and Attitudes survey. These reports give us an important evidence base as we work to strengthen and improve one of the most significant social support programmes delivered by the State for children and families.
Ensuring children are eating healthy, nutritious food is an important commitment under the programme for Government. We want an education system that works for all children, regardless of background or circumstance. The school meals programme, particularly the hot school meals scheme, is a vital part of that ambition.
There are currently some 300 suppliers in the school meals programme, the majority of which supply one to three local schools. Any registered food business operator, including not-for-profit suppliers, meals-on-wheels services, social enterprises, community organisations, co-operatives, local cafés, restaurants and caterers, can become a school meals provider by submitting a tender response to a school's call for tenders. My preferred approach is to have local suppliers involved insofar as possible. For instance, there are currently 11 meals-on-wheels organisations supplying 40 schools.
The programme is about much more than providing food. It is about ensuring children are in a position to participate fully in education, thereby improving concentration and well-being, supporting attendance, easing financial pressures on families and helping to tackle educational disadvantage. The scale of the programme today reflects the commitment of the Government to those objectives.
The hot school meals scheme, which began as a small pilot under the then Minister, Ms Regina Doherty, involved just 30 schools in 2019. Today, with the support provided by the former Minister, Ms Heather Humphreys, and me, it has grown to support approximately 3,200 primary schools and 550,000 children with hot school meals. Across all meal types, including breakfast clubs and snack provision, the programme now reaches 3,700 schools and approximately 682,000 children, providing up to 3.4 million meals every week. I am sure Members will agree these are remarkable numbers. They reflect the exceptionally significant expansion of this social support over recent years.
As the hot school meals scheme expands, it is necessary and appropriate that we assess how well it is operating and identify areas for improvement. While the scheme has been positively received by schools, parents and children since its introduction, concerns have been raised in regard to nutritional standards, menu options and food waste. For that reason, an interdepartmental working group was established in December 2024, bringing together expertise from my Department, the Departments of Health, Education and Youth, and Children, Disability and Equality, and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, FSAI. The purpose of this group is to oversee the operation of the school meals programme and make recommendations on its future development.
In September 2025, I approved the secondment of a dedicated CORU-registered dietitian to the programme, working under the clinical supervision of the Department of Health. One of the dietitian's principal tasks was to undertake a detailed review of school meal menus and assess compliance with nutritional standards across suppliers participating in the scheme. The review examined 15 school meal suppliers and analysed 360 meals over a nine-month period. It included all nine major suppliers, which account for approximately 70% of schools participating in the scheme. Site visits were also undertaken to schools and supplier premises throughout the country.
I thank the dietician for her work on, and commitment to, the review. It found there is a wide variety of meals available under the scheme, with strong availability of nutritious and balanced options. It found that 82% of meal options reviewed did not contain foods considered high in fat, salt or sugar. The majority of principals and teachers reported positive experiences regarding meal quality, nutritional value and choice.
However, the review also highlighted areas where improvements are needed. While a range of healthy food options are available, the data showed that where meals with higher fat, salt and sugar options remained available, those options were often selected from the menu. The review also identified a need to increase fruit, vegetables, salads and wholegrain products, as well as the level of protein content in vegetarian and vegan meals. In addition, the same portion size is often provided regardless of age, despite the different nutritional needs of younger and older children.
The issue of food waste was also examined in detail. The review found that approximately 18.9% of meals remained uneaten daily. However, when absenteeism is taken into account, that figure falls to 11.1%. Waste was notably higher among older children. The evidence suggests that a combination of factors are contributing to the waste challenge, including meal preferences, menu choice and, in some cases, insufficient time during lunch breaks.
Alongside the nutritional review, my Department commissioned IPSOS Behaviour and Attitudes to undertake the largest survey ever conducted on the hot school meals scheme. More than 86,000 parents, almost 7,000 children, over 1,900 teachers, more than 500 principals and 47 suppliers participated. The results demonstrate clearly that the scheme is deeply embedded within school communities. Some 81% of parents reported that their child avails of the scheme, while 85% of children said they liked their lunch or found it satisfactory. The survey also highlighted a broad recognition of the scheme's benefits, particularly in DEIS schools. Among parents who viewed the scheme positively, the most frequently cited benefits were the provision of regular meals, children's enjoyment of meals and the inclusion of core food groups. Importantly, the findings of the IPSOS survey align closely with those of the nutritional review.
At the same time, respondents identified challenges. Parents and schools highlighted concerns relating to menu choice, dietary requirements, perceptions around processed foods and the need for greater flexibility, including options for both a hot and cold meal. School contracts with food suppliers currently provide either hot or cold meal options, but not both, to schools. Food waste was also identified as an issue requiring attention.
The value of these two reports is that they not only identify where the scheme is working well or where there are challenges, but they also set out clear recommendations. Those recommendations include the development of a standardised menu cycle, improved nutritional compliance, larger food portions for older children, better accommodation of special dietary requirements, stronger auditing arrangements and greater flexibility regarding meal choice. A review of the current food catering models to assess which most consistently meet the nutritional standards will be undertaken. The potential to use a weighting system in the tender evaluation process will also be examined. The reports' recommendations provide a very clear roadmap for the next phase of the scheme's development. Work has started with suppliers and the other stakeholders on their implementation. Tomorrow, the dietician will brief the education spokespersons of all the parties on her work.
The success of the hot school meals scheme should not be measured solely by the number of meals served but also by the positive impact it has on children's health, well-being and educational outcomes. The reports confirm that the scheme is succeeding on a significant scale. However, we are not hiding from the practical measures needed to make it even better.
I thank the officials in my Department for their considerable commitment to the roll-out of this scheme since 2019. This is a major commitment, budget-wise and personnel-wise, on the part of my Department. It is my Department that leads the roll-out and the work on this on the ground, and I acknowledge that.
I look forward to hearing the views of Senators during today's debate, and as I look around the Chamber, many of them have already engaged positively with feedback on the scheme, and I acknowledge that. Go raibh maith agat.

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Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

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Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:00:59+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-30