{"id":631765,"date":"2026-09-21T21:04:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T21:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/631765\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T21:04:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T21:04:12","slug":"hot-school-meals-scheme-to-be-overhauled-after-reports-find-poor-quality-and-high-waste-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/631765\/","title":{"rendered":"Hot school meals scheme to be overhauled after reports find poor quality and high waste \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The State\u2019s hot school meals scheme<\/a> is to be overhauled following two reports that found shortcomings in the quality of food provided and a high level of waste. <\/p>\n

The analysis, commissioned by Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary<\/a>, comprised two reports: an audit of the nutritional value of what was on offer and a survey of pupils\u2019, parents\u2019 and teachers\u2019 views on the scheme. <\/p>\n

The hot school meals scheme was first introduced as a pilot in 37 Deis primary schools<\/a> in 2019 and has since expanded to provide meals to approximately 550,000 primary school children in 3,200 schools across the State. It is funded by the Department of Social Protection<\/a> with a budget of \u20ac286 million in 2026. <\/p>\n

The Nutrition Review Report, carried out by a dietitian, found that while the majority of meals did not contain foods considered high in fat, salt or sugar, these options were chosen over healthier alternatives when available on a menu.<\/p>\n

The review also found that almost a fifth of hot school meals were uneaten every day. <\/p>\n

The survey of pupils, parents and teachers found while overall the attitudes towards the scheme were positive, the majority of parents felt children should have the option of a cold lunch, and greater flexibility in menu items. <\/p>\n

The Minister outlined four major changes to the scheme after bringing the reviews to Cabinet on Monday. <\/p>\n

\u201cFirstly, we are going to develop a three-week standardised menus cycle. At the moment, that is not present in many schools,\u201d Calleary said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecondly, we are making adaptations for special schools, for children with special dietary requirements, to ensure to improve the inclusivity of the programme.<\/p>\n

\u201cThirdly, different size meals for different age groups. We find different levels of acceptance from junior infants, right up until sixth class, and given the nutrition requirements will differ, we\u2019re going to adjust the proportions.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinally, we\u2019re going to look at the flexibility of introducing a cold lunch option. That was the preference of many parents,\u201d Calleary said.<\/p>\n

While acknowledging the report\u2019s importance and the lessons to be drawn from it, one school principal questioned why it garnered so much airtime over other issues in the education system.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy are chicken goujons making the headlines? There\u2019s so much else going on in education and in Deis schools than the hot meals,\u201d \u00d3rla Hanahoe, principal at Cnoc Mhuire Senior National School, a Deis Plus school in Tallaght, Dublin 24, told The Irish Times on Monday. <\/p>\n

The hot meals scheme was \u201ca necessary part of our school\u201d, Hanahoe said. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Breakfast clubs in Deis primary schools: \u2018If it wasn\u2019t here and you\u2019d had no breakfast you\u2019d be on the yard hungry\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the very marginalised children in our school, they could eat two or three [meals]. So for those children, even though I see a lot of waste and I see the flaws within the scheme, if there\u2019s a few children in every class whose needs are being met and who are being filled up with something hot and tasty and filling, then that\u2019s great,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Hanahoe said the report was \u201cnecessary, and we need to learn from it\u201d, both to reduce food waste and ensure children are exposed to unprocessed foods.<\/p>\n

However, she said there were \u201cbasic things\u201d she wished got more attention: keeping the school warm, avoiding debt in a large building where the population is falling, and maintaining a positive environment for the students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The State\u2019s hot school meals scheme is to be overhauled following two reports that found shortcomings in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":631766,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[16570,14313,61,60,43,28230],"class_list":["post-631765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-dara-calleary","tag-department-of-social-protection","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-primary-level"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=631765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/631766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}