Kitchens and dining areas should be mandatory in all new build schools as part of a bid to improve the State’s hot school meal offering, TDs and senators have recommended. The report was compiled after several public meetings with stakeholders regarding the scheme, which provides hot meals at lunchtime to all children in Irish primary schools. The committee recommended that school meals should be prepared on site in schools from scratch, with children eating together in a communal setting. Read More A third of hot school meals do not meet basic nutritional standards, minister saysThe Department of Social Protection currently oversees the hot school meals scheme. The committee further called for home economics to be made mandatory in all primary and post-primary schools as part of SPHE/wellbeing programmes.

Source: Irish Examiner March 26, 2026 12:46 UTC