Minister for Disability and Fianna Fáil TD for Galway East, Anne Rabbitte, has welcomed the approval of 62 additional primary schools in Galway for the Hot School Meals Programme.
The Department of Social Protection provides the funding to schools for the 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.
Minister Rabbitte said: “I am delighted to see an additional 62 primary schools in Galway approved for the Hot School Meals Programme. The expansion of this initiative is one I’ve been pushing for with my Government colleagues as it guarantees children access to a hot meal that some children may not otherwise receive.
“From the principals and teachers I’ve met about the Hot School Meals Programme, they tell me that it has greatly boosted children’s energy and concentration levels in class, particularly in the afternoons, and has generally raised the sense of wellbeing of the children," she added.
“When this Government was formed in 2020, there were 30 schools across the country receiving hot meals. From April next year, there will be over 1,400 primary schools benefitting from Hot School Meals, which is just fantastic.
“The Government’s ambition is to continue to expand the Hot School Meals Programme to every primary school in Ireland, and we are now well on course to achieve that objective.”
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.
