Food poverty does not stop at 12, committee hears amid calls to expand hot meals

The scheme, which makes half a million children eligible for hot school meals, has a budget of €300m. Picture: Dan Linehan

Food poverty does not end when a child turns 12, and free hot school meals should be extended to children in secondary school, an Oireachtas committee heard.

Paul Crone, director of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals, told the Oireachtas Education Committee that the lack of hot meals when children move from primary to secondary school causes disappointment and frustration for students and parents alike.