Hot School Meals programme expanded to a further 33 Kerry schools

The Hot School Meals programme has been expanded to a further 33 schools in the county.

The programme currently supplies free hot meals to around 81 primary schools in Kerry.

The addition of new schools to the programme has been welcomed by Minister for Children, Disability, and Equality Norma Foley, Deputy Michael Cahill and Senator Mike Kennelly.

The Hot School Meals programme was initially set up in 2019 as a pilot programme of 30 primary schools across the country.

A further 713 primary schools have been added to the Hot School Meals Programme from today, bringing the total number of schools in receipt of hot meals to 2850.

Schools in and around Abbeydorney, Annascaul, Ballyduff, Ballyferriter, Barraduff, Castleisland, Cordal, Castlegregory, Dingle, Kenmare, Killarney, Killorglin, Listowel and Tralee, are among the 33 new additions to the programme in Kerry.

Every primary school in the country will have access to the hot school meals programme by September.

However, some health experts have raised concern over the quality of the food being offered as part of the initiative.

Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary says he wants to ensure the food has a high nutritional value:

There will be a review of the nutritional standards in the Hot School Meals scheme and the removal of the optional food that is high in saturated fat, sugar, and salt from the school meal menus.

The complete list of schools is below: