The new school year is up and running and now that the Government has included all primary schools in the country in its Hot School Meals programme, 550,000 children have, in theory, access to a hot meal each school day.
However, revisions to the scheme announced earlier this year, examining the nutritional content of the food being served, along with a tightening up of how schools appoint their suppliers, has led to a delay in the scheme being realised in the final 350 schools that are newly qualified for the scheme.
New procurement documents were officially launched by the Department of Social Protection last month to reflect the unique nature of the programme when it comes to how schools source hot food suppliers.
Previously, schools had to use the general procurement process – which is used to buy everything from school stationary to classroom furniture – to secure a food supplier.
The new process will take eight to 10 weeks to complete. Schools new to the scheme that don’t already have a supplier in place, will have to wait until at least late October to avail of hot meals.
Under the new system, some smaller rural schools are at risk of losing the scheme due to the requirement for suppliers to hire a member of staff to handle the meals on site. Food suppliers are paid €3.20 per meal which they say makes the cost of hiring someone to distribute the food prohibitive – especially in situations where pupil numbers are low. Previously, school staff served the meals to children. but this is no longer allowed.
A spokesperson for the Department of Social Protection confirmed that an interdepartmental working group, which includes the Department of Health, the Department of Education and Youth,
the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, is overseeing and making recommendations on how the programme operates.
“The Department of Education, with the support of the interdepartmental working group on school meals, has updated procurement documentation for the Hot School Meals Programme to strengthen the procurement process, ensuring that contractual arrangements comply with food safety legislation, planning, building regulations, and health and safety requirements,” he said.
“These procurement documents are a mandatory requirement for all schools participating in the programme. Under the school meals tender documentation, the school commits to the principles of environmental management in its activities, and it encourages the implementation of sustainability principles in its procurement practices.”
While there has been criticism over the delay in securing hot food for children as intended under the initiative, suppliers of school lunches have welcomed the updated regulations which they say are badly needed.
The owner of a company providing school meals in Leinster, who did not want to be named, said the changes were long overdue.
“We have been providing school meals for 25 years and currently deliver hot meals to 85 schools within a 100-mile radius of our facility,” she explains. “These new procurement procedures ensure the system is more regulated, as it should be.
“There’s been a lot of criticism about the scheme, yet we see first-hand how life-changing this is for the children who receive the meals and their families. But it does take time for the culture and education around food to catch up.”
Hidden food poverty
Barnardos National Policy Manager Stephen Moffatt agrees that the scheme is proving vital for families.
“This is absolutely a game-changer in that it guarantees one decent hot meal for a child every school day,” he says.
National policy manager with Barnardos, Stephen Moffatt.
“While some of the children are getting this level of food already at home, others aren’t and even for those that are, the provision of hot food in school is reducing pressure on parents who are struggling to cope with the rising cost of living.
“Many schools have had this scheme in place for the past five or six years and parents have come to rely on it.
“There is scope for growth and we have consistently called for the scheme to be extended to secondary schools, but across the services we deliver it is seen as a very positive scheme.”
Stephen says rural families who struggle with food poverty are among those who benefit most from the Hot School Meals Programme.
“While food poverty in urban areas is concentrated as there are vast areas in our cities designated disadvantaged, the issue is just as prevalent in rural Ireland where the disadvantage is slightly more hidden,” he explains.
“Families in rural areas may not be as forthcoming with their struggles as they fear stigmatisation but it is as big an issue as it is in the cities so the hot school meals are vital in rural schools, to support those families who are struggling.”
Minister Dara Calleary confirmed in April that as part of modifications to the scheme, food that is high in saturated fat, sugar, and salt would not be permitted under the scheme from September.
When it was first launched as a pilot scheme in 2019, parents could choose processed foods such as pizza, sausages and goujons on what became known as ‘treat day’. This however drew sharp criticism from nutrition experts who warned of the dangers of a growing obesity crisis among Irish children.
Minister Dara Calleary.
Food education
Welcoming the review of nutrition, the Leinster school meal provider says there are other areas of the scheme that require attention.
“No one talks about food safety, the focus is all on nutrition, yet food safety is paramount, with the temperature and timing of food being served the most important thing. Everyone is giving out about additives which are there to protect people, by keeping harmful bacteria at bay.
“The treat day was always the most popular, everyone wanted the meal that day but that’s gone now. Children attending DEIS schools don’t really identify with fresh home cooked food and want the processed meals because that’s what they are familiar with. By getting rid of these meals, you’re not reaching the children who need it most and the irony is there’s a healthy way to prepare and deliver chicken goujons, but it’s not an option anymore.
“The review of nutrition and these new procurement documents are a good thing but the department also needs to focus on food education, how it feeds our bodies and if children are taught this from a very young age, they grow up with a better understanding of the need for good nutrition.”
The department spokesperson confirmed that food education was one of many other aspects of the programme that would be examined by the Interdepartmental Working Group.
Irish Country Living spoke to parents around the country to gauge their reaction to the Hot School Meals Programme.
Most said they still needed to give their child a meal after school, regardless of whether they received a hot meal in the classroom.
Danielle Fitzmaurice from Co Kerry said her two primary school children were coming home from school hungry as they didn’t like the meals being served.
“Our school has had the hot meals since April 2024 but my children are plain eaters and they won’t even try the curries and ciabattas that are offered, so they’re coming home hungry,” she says.
“The portion sizes of the plainer meals is also an issue; even on the days my older child would eat one of the meals, they weren’t getting enough to eat. So, I’d like to see more variety in the meals being offered and I think the school needs to engage with the parents more.”
Children’s palates
Kellie O’Connor from Wicklow also believes the scheme is not being delivered with children’s palates in mind.
“I have three primary school children and the Hot School Meals Programme was introduced in our school in 2023,” she says.
“They all tried the dinners at the beginning but they’re picky eaters and were bringing home uneaten meals every day.
“The quality of the food wasn’t great and it seems the plainer dishes are more popular, but they get tired of having the same thing over and over again. They come home starving and between that and the waste they bring home, I decided I’d be better off sending them in with a packed lunch that at least I know they’ll eat.”
The new school year is up and running and now that the Government has included all primary schools in the country in its Hot School Meals programme, 550,000 children have, in theory, access to a hot meal each school day.
However, revisions to the scheme announced earlier this year, examining the nutritional content of the food being served, along with a tightening up of how schools appoint their suppliers, has led to a delay in the scheme being realised in the final 350 schools that are newly qualified for the scheme.
New procurement documents were officially launched by the Department of Social Protection last month to reflect the unique nature of the programme when it comes to how schools source hot food suppliers.
Previously, schools had to use the general procurement process – which is used to buy everything from school stationary to classroom furniture – to secure a food supplier.
The new process will take eight to 10 weeks to complete. Schools new to the scheme that don’t already have a supplier in place, will have to wait until at least late October to avail of hot meals.
Under the new system, some smaller rural schools are at risk of losing the scheme due to the requirement for suppliers to hire a member of staff to handle the meals on site. Food suppliers are paid €3.20 per meal which they say makes the cost of hiring someone to distribute the food prohibitive – especially in situations where pupil numbers are low. Previously, school staff served the meals to children. but this is no longer allowed.
A spokesperson for the Department of Social Protection confirmed that an interdepartmental working group, which includes the Department of Health, the Department of Education and Youth,
the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, is overseeing and making recommendations on how the programme operates.
“The Department of Education, with the support of the interdepartmental working group on school meals, has updated procurement documentation for the Hot School Meals Programme to strengthen the procurement process, ensuring that contractual arrangements comply with food safety legislation, planning, building regulations, and health and safety requirements,” he said.
“These procurement documents are a mandatory requirement for all schools participating in the programme. Under the school meals tender documentation, the school commits to the principles of environmental management in its activities, and it encourages the implementation of sustainability principles in its procurement practices.”
While there has been criticism over the delay in securing hot food for children as intended under the initiative, suppliers of school lunches have welcomed the updated regulations which they say are badly needed.
The owner of a company providing school meals in Leinster, who did not want to be named, said the changes were long overdue.
“We have been providing school meals for 25 years and currently deliver hot meals to 85 schools within a 100-mile radius of our facility,” she explains. “These new procurement procedures ensure the system is more regulated, as it should be.
“There’s been a lot of criticism about the scheme, yet we see first-hand how life-changing this is for the children who receive the meals and their families. But it does take time for the culture and education around food to catch up.”
Hidden food poverty
Barnardos National Policy Manager Stephen Moffatt agrees that the scheme is proving vital for families.
“This is absolutely a game-changer in that it guarantees one decent hot meal for a child every school day,” he says.
National policy manager with Barnardos, Stephen Moffatt.
“While some of the children are getting this level of food already at home, others aren’t and even for those that are, the provision of hot food in school is reducing pressure on parents who are struggling to cope with the rising cost of living.
“Many schools have had this scheme in place for the past five or six years and parents have come to rely on it.
“There is scope for growth and we have consistently called for the scheme to be extended to secondary schools, but across the services we deliver it is seen as a very positive scheme.”
Stephen says rural families who struggle with food poverty are among those who benefit most from the Hot School Meals Programme.
“While food poverty in urban areas is concentrated as there are vast areas in our cities designated disadvantaged, the issue is just as prevalent in rural Ireland where the disadvantage is slightly more hidden,” he explains.
“Families in rural areas may not be as forthcoming with their struggles as they fear stigmatisation but it is as big an issue as it is in the cities so the hot school meals are vital in rural schools, to support those families who are struggling.”
Minister Dara Calleary confirmed in April that as part of modifications to the scheme, food that is high in saturated fat, sugar, and salt would not be permitted under the scheme from September.
When it was first launched as a pilot scheme in 2019, parents could choose processed foods such as pizza, sausages and goujons on what became known as ‘treat day’. This however drew sharp criticism from nutrition experts who warned of the dangers of a growing obesity crisis among Irish children.
Minister Dara Calleary.
Food education
Welcoming the review of nutrition, the Leinster school meal provider says there are other areas of the scheme that require attention.
“No one talks about food safety, the focus is all on nutrition, yet food safety is paramount, with the temperature and timing of food being served the most important thing. Everyone is giving out about additives which are there to protect people, by keeping harmful bacteria at bay.
“The treat day was always the most popular, everyone wanted the meal that day but that’s gone now. Children attending DEIS schools don’t really identify with fresh home cooked food and want the processed meals because that’s what they are familiar with. By getting rid of these meals, you’re not reaching the children who need it most and the irony is there’s a healthy way to prepare and deliver chicken goujons, but it’s not an option anymore.
“The review of nutrition and these new procurement documents are a good thing but the department also needs to focus on food education, how it feeds our bodies and if children are taught this from a very young age, they grow up with a better understanding of the need for good nutrition.”
The department spokesperson confirmed that food education was one of many other aspects of the programme that would be examined by the Interdepartmental Working Group.
Irish Country Living spoke to parents around the country to gauge their reaction to the Hot School Meals Programme.
Most said they still needed to give their child a meal after school, regardless of whether they received a hot meal in the classroom.
Danielle Fitzmaurice from Co Kerry said her two primary school children were coming home from school hungry as they didn’t like the meals being served.
“Our school has had the hot meals since April 2024 but my children are plain eaters and they won’t even try the curries and ciabattas that are offered, so they’re coming home hungry,” she says.
“The portion sizes of the plainer meals is also an issue; even on the days my older child would eat one of the meals, they weren’t getting enough to eat. So, I’d like to see more variety in the meals being offered and I think the school needs to engage with the parents more.”
Children’s palates
Kellie O’Connor from Wicklow also believes the scheme is not being delivered with children’s palates in mind.
“I have three primary school children and the Hot School Meals Programme was introduced in our school in 2023,” she says.
“They all tried the dinners at the beginning but they’re picky eaters and were bringing home uneaten meals every day.
“The quality of the food wasn’t great and it seems the plainer dishes are more popular, but they get tired of having the same thing over and over again. They come home starving and between that and the waste they bring home, I decided I’d be better off sending them in with a packed lunch that at least I know they’ll eat.”
SHARING OPTIONS