Irish schoolchildren deserve the sort of food others are eating

We should be proud that every child has the chance to be fed in Irish schools each day, but the universality of our school meals programme is being eroded

More than 2,500 school meals are packed in the kitchens at Duhallow Community Food Services each day. When you are making delicious food, it generally starts with the ingredients and the way you cook those ingredients. These two things were not taken into account by the Government report. Picture: Chani Anderson

The Irish school meals scheme has come under intense scrutiny this week following a report released by the Department of Social Protection which funds the scheme. The report shows that there are some serious problems to be addressed. 

A nutritional review found only 7% of meals meet all five basic nutrition standards set out by the department, with only 14% containing the required amount of fruit and vegetables, and over half of meals not including vegetables at all. Around a fifth of meals were said to contain processed meats or items high in fat, salt or sugar, which the department announced in April 2025 should be removed from all meals.