Concerns over the nutritional quality of the hot school meals programme and options for coeliac children are among those raised by parents and teachers with local TDs. Some also wrote to politicians asking why the scheme had not been rolled out at their children’s school.
The correspondence, which was then forwarded to the Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary, was released by his department under the Freedom of Information Act.
It included a letter from the Coeliac Society of Ireland to Minister of State Jennifer Murnane O’Connor which said that coeliac children were “often left out entirely or forced to accept a single, repetitive menu, in stark contrast to the varied and balanced meals available to their peers”.
The Department of Social Protection provides the funding to schools for the programme, with some 2,850 primary schools across the country now eligible to receive hot school meals.
Dublin Islamic cultural centre temporarily closed after gardaí called to altercation
Hardy Bucks actor Alan ‘Ali’ Carter died after combining drugs and alcohol at a stag party, inquest hears
Chob Thai restaurant, Clontarf: The most memorable thing here is the bill
Matt Williams: Although Leinster continue to defy the odds, Irish professional rugby appears to be in decline
Mr Calleary announced last week that he has asked for a review of the scheme’s nutritional standards which will be conducted by a Department of Health dietitian. It is due to be submitted to him by the end of the year.
One parent and schoolteacher wrote that while the programme was a “good concept”, addingd there were “significant issues with it that must be addressed immediately”, including a lack of consultation with education staff and dietitians.
“In a free market many food suppliers are flouting the nutrition guidelines. This puts the expectation on parents to have good nutritional knowledge which some parents don’t have.
“Quality and taste is also an issue, much is highly processed, and teaching colleagues nationwide are reporting that there is substantial food wastage due to poor quality and choice,” they added. “If these issues are not addressed it will inevitably lead to obesity issues in children which will continue into adulthood, causing further health issues for future governments.”
Another parent wrote that while the concept of the scheme was “good”, the quality of food being produced and food choices were “not acceptable” and “not nutritious enough”.
“There needs to be healthier food options, at a minimum, fruit, vegetables, yoghurt, wholemeal bread. More specifically something like what was originally provided in the original Deis model.”
The Coeliac Society of Ireland also said that coeliac children were continuing to be excluded from the programme which impacted upon their physical health, mental wellbeing and “sense of belonging in school”.
“Being excluded at mealtimes is isolating for children, reinforcing feelings of being ‘different’ and socially excluded,” it added.
Mr Calleary said that meals not meeting correct nutritional standards would be “rooted out”.
“I want to increase the inspections that we do and the depth of those inspections across the country,” he said. “This issue has been raised before. I will do that in the framework of expert advice from nutritionists, people who are actually qualified in this space, and I’ve asked the department to get that to me by the end of the calendar year. We will make calls and make decisions based on that report.
“In the meantime we will remove food that is high in saturated fat, sugar, and salt from the school meal menus. We are looking at our suppliers list and those not meeting standards will be rooted out.”
The department said it would engage with any primary schools not currently signed up to encourage them to participate.
