The leader of Aontú today (Friday, February 6) called for a full audit of the hot school meals programme to identify where products are sourced from.

The Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín said that he is aware of that some suppliers of hot school meals have confirmed to parents that some of the products contain ingredients that oirginate outside of Ireland.

Deputy Tóibín said: "Some parents around the country and some schools have been contacting their suppliers to query the origin of the food being supplied to schools under the hot school meals programme.

He believes confirmation of this will "hurt" Irish farmers.

Deputy Tóibín said: “The very least the government could do – the bare minimum – is to ensure that in instances where taxpayers’ money is being spent on food, that food is Irish".

He said his party has asked the Minister for Education to carry out an audit of the food supplied to schools under the programme.

Deputy Tóibín said he has also written to other government ministers to ask about the food supplied in canteens in their departments and "to ensure that this is of Irish origin also”.

According to the leader of Aontú parents need "full transparency" from the government in relation to school meals.

The school meals programme is open to all registered food business operators.

Minister Dara Calleary has said that the "objective of the school meals programme is to provide regular, nutritious food to children to support them in taking full advantage of the education provided to them". 

He has previously confirmed that the rate of payment for a hot school meal per child per day is €3.20. 

School meals

Agriland contacted one supplier of hot school meals to ask them about their sourcing policy on ingredients.

This company confirmed that while it purchases all of its meat from Irish companies, these companies supply certain brands who in turn may source a lot of their products from outside of Ireland.

This company said in relation to school meals all of its "beef is 100% Irish, Swedish Meatballs are from Sweden, the chicken origin is usually Brazil, cooked ham comes from a company in Northern Ireland and the pepperoni is produced by Dawn Foods".

It also told Agriland it has had discussions with other companies in relation to sourcing and "while Irish chicken is available, it is unaffordable".

The company said:"€3.20 is what the government pay for the meals, but this has to cover all the operating overheads, not just the food.

"2023 was also the first time in 20 years that the price was increased for the different meal schemes and it was a 10%-25% increase - certainly not a reflection of inflation, fuel, insurance or wage increases".