Number of schools benefitting from scheme across Kildare increases exponentially
Children in 19 schools in Kildare will benefit from a further extension to the Hot School meals Programme, according to Kildare South Fine Gael TD and Minister Martin Heydon.
Minister Heydon said any remaining primary schools in Kildare who have not yet joined the scheme can now express an interest to participate in the Hot School Meals Programme with effect from next September.
“I am delighted that Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys TD, has announced this further support to schools, which means an additional 150,000 children will benefit from regular nutritious hot meals, with many of those in Kildare.
“As a parent myself, I know the importance of a nutritious hot meal for children during the day and the benefits that has to support them in taking full advantage of the education provided to them.”
“The Hot School Meals Programme was introduced in 2019 as a small pilot of 30 schools. Minister Humphreys has grown the programme significantly in recent years and over 2,000 primary schools are now eligible to receive a hot meal with plans to include additional schools later this year.
Primary schools were contacted and asked to express an interest in participating with 900 schools selected from those that did – the remaining schools should express an interest again and will be enlisted in the coming months with all schools to be covered by 2025.
Concluding, Minister Heydon encouraged schools not yet availing of the scheme to apply in the new round of expressions of interest saying; “This scheme has all the hallmarks of being one of the biggest improvements in the Education sector in the last twenty years, I look forward to seeing the remaining Kildare schools apply and be covered by the scheme in the near future.”