School Meals Programme
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-26
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Darren O'Rourke (SF), Meath East

I agree 100% with the Minister's final point. I want to focus specifically on the issue of quality. The Minister stated that on the basis of the initial desktop analysis, 66% of meals met 60% of the standard. That is not good by any measure. If you were to give it a grade that is probably a C or below. It is of concern because there is a huge public spend on this. I have heard how the Minister will analyse this. How will he influence this and ensure quality? He stated that in the context of fatty and sugary content, he issued instructions and there was 80% compliance. How will he ensure that when we have this analysis, he actually influences what is happening on the ground?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-26/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:42+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-26