The President of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association Denis Drennan has criticised reports of Dutch cheese being used in free school meal initiatives in Ireland, branding it an “insult”.
Mr Drennan criticised the decision not to mandate Irish cheese in free school meal schemes, which are run by the Department of Social Protection, and referred to the pressure currently being faced by Ireland’s 18,000 dairy farmers.
Speaking to KCLR News, Mr. Drennan argued that not using Irish dairy produce at home can make it more difficult to sell Irish produce abroad.
In a response to KCLR News Department of Social Protection says:
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 2,200 Primary Schools are now eligible to receive a Hot Meal.
As part of Budget 2025, Hot School Meals will be extended to all remaining primary schools next year.
The objective of the Programme is to provide children with regular, nutritious food to support them in taking full advantage of the education provided to them.
The Department provides the funding directly to the school.
It is then the responsibility of each individual school to administer the programme in their school.
All schools who wish to avail of funding are responsible for choosing their supplier on the open market in a fair and transparent manner in accordance with public procurement rules and the primary relationship is between school and supplier.
All Hot School Meals suppliers are legally obliged to ensure the food they produce is safe to eat and are fully responsible in complying with health and safety legislation at all stages as stated by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI).
It should also be noted that that under EU laws, and as reflected in public procurement rules, it cannot be specified that food must originate from a particular country.
That would be in breach of EU single market rules.
