The bureaucracy around the serving of school meals under the Hot School Meals Programme across Cavan Monaghan is leading to providers pulling out of the scheme.
That's according to local Aontú Senator, Sarah O'Reilly.
Approximately 3,700 schools and 682,000 children are eligible under the scheme, and in Budget 2026, , €330 million was allocated for the programme.
Senator O'Reilly said she has received calls about teachers being formally instructed by trade unions not to place pre-prepared meals in school ovens.
She said it comes on the back of providers pulling out, which potentially threatens access to hot meals for hundreds of schools.
The senator explained that a change to food-safety and procurement guidelines issued by the FSAI have "significantly raised the bar for compliance".
Speaking to Northern Sound, she said smaller schools cannot meet the guidelines.
Senator O'Reilly said: "The new regulations require dedicated food heating rooms, proper ventilation, and enhanced infrastructure.
"These are demands that many schools can't meet. Particularly smaller schools," the senator added.
