An additional 2 schools in Lucan are to receive hot school meals from September, a local Minister has said. Minister for Business, Employment and Retail and local TD Emer Higgins said “the news from Minister Heather Humphreys’ department was a great boost to pupils and students ahead of the next school term. With the addition of St. Andrew’s National School and Scoil Aine Naofa, there are now 11 schools and close to 5,000 pupils receiving hot school meals in Lucan”.
Across the country, over 345,000 primary school children are now eligible to receive hot school meals. The scheme which was set up by Fine Gael in 2019.
“The programme forms part of Ireland’s commitment under the European Child Guarantee to give all children access to a range of key services, including healthcare and nutrition. It is a great scheme and is very beneficial for primary school children here in the County,” Minister Higgins said.
“It was initially introduced by Minister Regina Doherty in 2019 as a pilot measure to 30 schools and now under Minister Heather Humphreys the scheme stretches to 2,200 primary schools across the country. This shows the commitment from my party, Fine Gael, to ensure every child has the best start in life”.
“And we won’t stop. I want more schools across Dublin to have the programme extended to them as soon as possible and working with Minister Humphreys, we will make that happen. “It is a great success and welcomed by pupils, parents and teachers,” Minister Higgins said.
Minister Humphreys said “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 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.
