A food poverty charity that works closely with football superstar Marcus Rashford has backed the Irish Government’s move to give every primary school child in the country a hot meal every day.
Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys is spearheading the plan after she published a report recommending the major investment with schoolkids at St David’s primary school in Artane, North Dublin.
She wants to have it set up on time so that any child born today will have hot meals at school by the time they start primary school.
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Minister Humphreys wants the full scheme up and running by 2030.
Sporting hero Rashford earned plenty of plaudits with his work alongside The Food Foundation, an independent charity that works with the footballer in an ongoing campaign to end child food poverty.
A spokesperson for the campaign said: "The Food Foundation is an independent charity. We work with Marcus Rashford and Tom Kerridge helping to coordinate the End Child Food Poverty coalition, a group of charities and businesses calling on Government to implement the recommendations in the National Food Strategy to end child food poverty."
The Manchester United forward made it a priority of his to promote more hot dinners in English schools and became a folk hero when he clashed with Britain's Tory government over his campaigning.
The England star, who shamed the Tories into feeding needy kids in the holidays during the pandemic, campaigned successfully to widen eligibility for the free school meals scheme.
Following massive public support, Boris Johnson’s government extended the eligibility.
Mr Rashford subsequently received an MBE from Queen Elizabeth for his charity work.
Celebrity chef, Tom Kerridge, works with the Man Utd striker developing tasty, nutritional meals that are then served to children at schools all over the UK.
Mr Kerridge told the Irish Mirror last night: "The recommendations coming from Ireland are extremely positive and continue to reiterate the clear benefits of free school meals.
"The Government are recognising the value of giving children a hot, nutritious meal at school and I call on England’s Government to do the same and expand free school meals to help the 800,000 children who are falling through the eligibility gap."
Launching her plan in Dublin on Thursday afternoon, Minister Humphreys said: “Providing nutritious meals to our children at school is about so much more than food.
“It helps a child make the most of their education and their childhood.
“It does wonders for our children’s wellbeing, their concentration and their physical and mental health.
“We know this because we have gone out to schools and asked the children about the difference it makes.
“We also know from talking to parents and teachers that a hot meal in the middle of the day holds its weight in gold.
“These sentiments about the positive impact of the School Meals Programme are very much reflected in the independent evaluation that I am publishing today.”
The School Meals Programme currently has an annual Budget of over €94 million.
It supports over 1,600 schools and organisations nationwide and benefits over 260,000 children.
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