Parents say children want food 'the way it was before’ as confidence in hot school meal programme wanes

Some 78% noted that their children did not enjoy the variety of the food. File picture

Over half of parents have said that they plan to drop out of the hot school meals scheme, as a damning new survey reveals deep dissatisfaction with the programme.

The survey found that just 43% of parents who took part planned to continue to avail of the hot school meal scheme in its current format, with 57% of parents saying they would not.

The survey, from January 6 to February 18, received over 8,000 responses. It found that 80% of parents said their children would be more likely to eat a fresh lunch rather than a hot school meal.

However, just 16% of respondents noted that a cold food option was available in their schools. It also found that 80% of respondents said they sent in their own prepared school lunch with their children in the morning as “another option”.

Some 78% noted that their children did not enjoy the variety of the food, with 29% saying that the children prefer food from home. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of respondents expressed concerns that the food was not nutritious.

Some 76% of parents also noted that leftover food is being sent home, with 75% of these people saying that over half the food is not being eaten.

Comments made as part of the survey, published by Fine Gael, noted there should be more plain options provided, as well as more options for sandwiches and rolls.

One parent noted that “one day the heater was broken and they got cold lunch and loved this”.

An on-site school survey also showed that the children were unhappy since new nutritional guidelines were introduced in September 2025, removing the “cheat” meal options from the menu.

They argued that they “would like the food the way it was before the changes” and wanted to “get back” pepperoni pizza and potato cubes.

Suppliers also responded to the survey and warned that “offering both hot and cold options is not economically viable”.

They also expressed concerns about having to increase the size of the portions for secondary school students, noting that it is “not feasible to deliver larger meals at lower prices”.

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The report also recommends that longer break times need to be considered. However, Fine Gael senator Linda Nelson-Murray, who organised the survey, said she was not suggesting that school days needed to be extended.

The survey comes just a week after the Irish Examiner revealed that furious parents had told the Department of Social Protection that they are feeding their children’s meals to their dogs as they criticised out-of-date food, highly calorific meals, and incorrect allergen information.

All primary schools can now avail of the hot school meals programme, which originally started as a pilot in 2019.