31 July 2024
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
General file photo of food
“My ambition is to complete the roll-out of Hot School Meals to all remaining Primary Schools as part of Budget 2025”
The Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys TD, has announced that 168 additional primary schools have been approved for the Hot School Meals Programme.
The announcement means almost 2,200 Primary Schools across the country are now eligible to receive Hot School Meals.
An additional 29,000 children across 168 schools will have access to nutritious hot meals for the new school year starting from this September. This brings the total number of primary school children now eligible to receive a Hot School Meal every day to 345,000.
Announcing the expansion today, Minister Humphreys said:
“Since my appointment as Minister for Social Protection, I have grown the Hot School Meals Programme from a small pilot of just 30 schools to a nationwide programme which now provides nutritious hot meals in 2,200 primary schools across the country.
“My ambition now is to finish the job as part of this year’s Budget and ensure that every primary school in Ireland is providing hot school meals in 2025.
“I firmly believe the roll-out of hot school meals to every primary school in the country will be one of the lasting legacies of this Government.”
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 the 168 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 School Meals from September 2024.
The full list of 168 new Primary Schools approved for Hot School Meals from September 2024 is available here: gov – Primary Schools approved for Hot School Meals from September 2024 (www.gov.ie), it shows the Cork schools are:
| Cork | Millstreet Convent N S | 02278I |
| Dundar Mhuighe N S | 16940O | |
| S N Inis | 18567F | |
| Kilbrittain Mixed N S | 14116V | |
| S N Ath na Lionta | 13483U | |
| Freemount Mixed N S | 06295F | |
| Scoil Fionnbarra | 19637F | |
| Scoil Realt na Mara | 16109L | |
| Gael Scoil ui Riordain | 19839R | |
| Kealkil N S | 16087E | |
| Lios Maighir | 17300G | |
| S N Gleann na Huladh | 12446J | |
| Convent girls senior N S | 16159D | |
| Rusheen N S | 12395S | |
| Scoil Mhuire Gan Smál, Clondulane | 17955J | |
| S N Droichead na Bandan | 18431D | |
| Scoil Bhrugh Thuinne | 17527L | |
| S N Chuan Doir | 01272O |
Background
The Hot School Meals Programme was introduced as a small pilot of 30 schools. Minister Humphreys has grown the Programme significantly in recent years. Today’s announcement will bring the total number of schools with access to Hot School Meals to nearly 2,200 from September 2024.
The 168 new Primary Schools approved today expressed an interest in Hot School Meals last year.
The Department has this year contacted all of the remaining Primary Schools who have not yet joined the Hot School Meals scheme asking them to submit expressions of interest in commencing the provision of Hot School Meals. The responses will be reviewed with the aim of including more schools subject to available funding in Budget 2025.
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.