Clare Fine Gael TD Joe Cooney has called for immediate Government intervention amid growing fears that thousands of primary school children across Ireland could lose access to the State’s Hot School Meals scheme from Monday (September 1st).
Deputy Cooney raised his concerns after confirmation that 10 rural Clare schools, with a combined enrolment of 291 pupils, have been informed today by The Lunch Bag, a Nenagh-based school meal supplier, that the service is being withdrawn with immediate effect.
The schools affected are St Joseph’s NS Moy, Bansha NS, Carrigaholt Mixed NS, Clohanes NS, Connolly NS, Kilbaha NS, Moveen NS, Rineen NS, Rockmount Mixed NS and St Joseph’s NS Cree.
The decision follows new guidance issued on Wednesday to suppliers by the Schools Procurement Unit (SPU) on procurement procedures and updated food safety regulations introduced by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI).
Deputy Cooney said a separate supplier has also written to 19 schools in Clare, Galway and Kerry stating that it can no longer provide the service, a move which has already resulted in the loss of one full-time and five part-time jobs.
“This has come as a bolt from the blue for schools,” Deputy Cooney said. “There was no advance notice of these changes and they appear to have caught everyone completely off guard. The current system was working well for schools and providers, but the new guidance means many service providers would be forced to operate at a loss. No child should lose access to a hot meal just because they attend a smaller or rural school. Urgent Government action is now required.”
The new rules mean schools are no longer permitted to send food waste home for composting and must instead pay for daily waste removal. They must also designate a specific room for heating meals which requires architectural approval, ventilation systems, electrical upgrades, additional handwashing facilities and pest control measures. Meals can no longer be prepared in one school and delivered to another, and can only be provided under a “hot drop” system, where food cooked off-site must be consumed within two hours of heating. This severely restricts delivery routes and increases transport, staffing and overhead costs, particularly for suppliers.
Deputy Cooney has also criticised the late establishment of a cross-departmental working group, which includes officials from the Department of Social Protection, the Department of Education, the FSAI, SPU, HSE and other agencies, noting that it was only set up at the end of June.
“I am told by suppliers that despite repeated requests from school meal providers, there has been very limited engagement with the working group on the delivery of the Government’s ambitious long-term School Meals Scheme targets,” he said. “This group should have been in place months ago when it was clear that new guidance was being developed. Instead, we now face the real risk that hundreds of schools will be left without access to hot meals from Monday.”