The School Meals Programme provides funding towards provision of food for children while they are in school. It is not designed to provide all the food that a child needs in the day.
It is provided by the Dept. of Social Protection in Ireland, and is a funded program - this means that the food is free for parents. The school is provided with a set amount of funding for each school year, and they use this to pay their supplier for the lunches provided.
It is important to note that schools cannot apply for both chilled and hot lunches. Additionally, while schools can apply for funding, they are not guaranteed to receive it. If you are a school who would like assistance in completing their application, you can contact us here.
What kind of food is provided?
There are different types of funding available. A school can apply for these various types of funding.
Hot Meals: this scheme provides funding for a hot lunch to be eaten in school. This meal is designed to give students a hot lunch - It is not designed to provide all the food that a child needs in a day, it is just their lunch. This meal consists of a hot meal portion. The funding is available for the food only, a drink is not included. You can see our hot lunch offering here.
Cold Lunches: this scheme provides funding for a chilled lunch to be eaten in school. This meal consists of a sandwich/wrap/roll/pasta, a drink, a piece of fruit. It is not designed to provide all the food that a child needs in a day, it is just their lunch. You can see our chilled lunch offering here.
Snacks: this scheme provides funding for healthy snacks to be provided for the child's "small break". These two snacks are provided to schools to be distributed among children in the class.