Press release
Minister Humphreys announces 900 additional Primary Schools approved for Hot School Meals
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
The Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys has today announced that 900 primary schools have been approved for the Hot School Meals Programme.
Today’s announcement means an additional 150,000 children will benefit from nutritious hot meals next year.
Announcing details of the 900 schools, Minister Humphreys said:
“I am delighted to announce today that an additional 900 primary schools have been approved for the Hot School Meals Programme.
“When I was appointed Minister for Social Protection in June 2020, there were 30 schools receiving Hot Meals. Today’s announcement means that from April next year there will be over 1,400 primary schools benefitting from Hot School Meals.
“As Minister, I am absolutely determined to continue to expand the Hot School Meals Programme to every Primary School in Ireland.
“My ambition is that a child born in Ireland today will be guaranteed access to a Hot Meal by the time they start school.
“The major expansion I am announcing today means we are now well on course to achieve that objective.”
The Hot School Meals Programme was introduced in 2019 as a small pilot of 30 schools.
Minister Humphreys has grown the Programme significantly in recent years and all DEIS Primary Schools are now eligible to receive a Hot Meal.
Earlier this year, Minister Humphreys signalled her intention to roll out the Hot School Meals Programme to all Primary Schools. As part of this significant expansion plan, all remaining primary schools were contacted and requested to submit an expression of interest form if their school is interested in commencing the provision of hot school meals.
Expressions of interests were received from over 900 Primary Schools in respect of 150,000 children and these schools are today being invited to participate in the Hot School Meals Programme from 2024.
The Department of Social Protection provides the funding to schools for the School Meals Programme and it is the responsibility of schools to choose their supplier in an open, fair and transparent manner in accordance with national legislation and EU directives on procurement.
The Department of Social Protection will now write to each of these schools to advise them on the next steps in this regard to allow schools time to prepare so that their pupils will be able to avail of hot meals from April 2024.
The 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 Hot School Meals element was introduced in 2019 and has grown significantly from a small pilot of 30 schools to a programme currently providing nutritious hot meals to 500 primary schools. Today’s announcement will bring the total number of schools receiving hot meals to 1,400 from April 2024.