Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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93. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection how Healthy Ireland nutrition standards and specific dietary requirements are enforced in the school meals programme. [8362/25]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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We understand the importance of the school meals programme but it is equally important that when kids are availing of this programme, the food is decent, of good quality, healthy and nutritious. I know from talking to teachers in my constituency that, for some kids, these meals may represent a significant proportion of the food they eat on any given day. It is important that those standards are upheld.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. I really appreciate her raising this issue today. This is something I will be focused on. A specific nutritional standard was set for school meals. This is based on the Food Safety Authority of Ireland food-based dietary recommendations for healthy eating. These were developed by a technical working group led by the health and well-being programme of the Department of Health, Safefood and the HSE's healthy eating and active living programme.

The Department of Social Protection has an oversight role in relation to the school meals programme. It conducts regular inspections of schools. Under the existing audit process, 400 schools are inspected annually. Every school must submit a sample menu with its application for the school meals programme. Funding will not be provided for food that does not comply with the standards I have referred to. All participating schools must also submit to my Department a signed service level agreement that clearly sets out the school’s responsibilities in terms of compliance with nutritional standards. It is important to note that there are a range of food options on the menu including lactose-free, vegetarian and gluten-free options. It is the parents who select the food choices for their children.

In December 2024, the Department of Social Protection established an interdepartmental working group, which includes the Departments of Health, Education, and Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to make recommendations on the operation of the scheme including recommendations on nutrition. In addition, my Department participates in the Department of Health’s obesity policy implementation oversight group.

Under the programme for Government, my Department will continue to expand and improve the hot school meals scheme and we will ensure that suppliers adhere to robust guidelines on the nutritional value of meals and the dietary requirements of students, reduce food waste and utilise recyclable packaging. On any occasion there are specific concerns about food choice or the quality of food provided under the scheme, these should be brought to my Department’s attention. I assure the Deputy that the nutritional side of this scheme is very important to me. It is something I will very much focus on. I will ask the interdepartmental working group being established within my Department to focus on delivering the best value nutritionally as well as best value everywhere else.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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Irish Country Living has found that traceability of the food can be poor and that ingredients are often just listed as "pasta sauce" on the website. This has been widely reported in the media. We also know that the same amount of funding, €3.20 per meal, and the same portion sizes are given to children from junior infants right up to sixth class. That should be looked at because children's nutritional needs change and grow as they get older. I am concerned that of the 2,200 schools availing of the scheme, only 400 will be assessed this year. That is a fraction. I absolutely respect the Minister's bona fides and I know that, if he says this will be a priority, it will be but I wonder how that information will get to him. It is not an efficient system for him to wait for complaints to be made. Increasing the number to be assessed is important, as is eliminating the use of catch-all phrases like "pasta sauce". The ingredients should be known. As I have said, for some kids, these meals represent a significant proportion of the food they will eat in any one day.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I do not want catch-all phrases. We cannot do that any more. That day is gone. I want to see what people are eating. There are also students with different dietary needs and we are not in a good space to account for those needs if we are using catch-all phrases. This is something I will look at. I have asked for full information on the audit process and what is involved in it because, like the Deputy, I have had feedback from parents and teachers on the operation of this scheme. We have come a long way and it is important to acknowledge how successful this scheme has been. We now have 1,884 schools in the scheme. We will expand that again later. The reason this scheme was implemented in the first place was to ensure consistency of nutrition for our students across all cohorts. Let us not forget that consistency or the original intention of the scheme. Let us not forget the importance of nutrition in anyone's life and particularly a child's. We have had a lot of feedback regarding the issue the Deputy has just raised, the different tastes of kids of different eras.

We all know how difficult it is. This is something I will zero in on and particularly the entire audit process.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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We all saw the Jamie Oliver programmes in England and his war on turkey twizzlers and all of that. We have an opportunity to not let the situation get to that level. I welcome the Minister's commitment to monitoring the system. The Department must be very proactive as a significant amount is being spent here. That buying power should be used to drive up and maintain standards rather than allow standards to slip.

It may not be the best idea to wait for complaints to be made; they will come, and I will be happy to channel them in to the Department. I agree with increasing the number of schools inspected from 400 so that schools and providers know there is a high likelihood they are going to be assessed. At the moment there is a very low likelihood of that happening. No one wants to see the standards slip. Everyone wants to see kids get good quality, decent food. A little increase in the surveillance would be very helpful in that regard.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I disagree with very little of what the Deputy said. I will certainly look at that. This year we will introduce a pilot project based on the Department of Education's summer programme to ensure that schools that are eligible for the school meals programme will be able to make meals available for the summer programme. That will support approximately 40,000 of the most vulnerable children who have complex special educational needs, who are at risk of educational disadvantage. We will work with the Department of Education to ensure that gets rolled out.

I am very focused on the nutritional side of this scheme. The initiative has been a wonderful success. I thank the officials in my Department who have worked very hard to get it right. We want to make sure that it is working and does what we all want it to do, which is to give a minimum nutritional value to the youngest citizens of the country and to ensure that everybody gets it, regardless of income. I am aware of the impact it has. Yesterday, I joined Tesco in regard to its Stronger Starts programme for vegetables. I saw some fantastic examples of that programme around the country. None of us understands the impact of good nutrition for younger children, which is what this scheme is intended to be about.