It comes as the programme was examined by the Public Accounts Committee
A Kildare TD believes the quality of hot school meals doesn't match the amount of funding for the scheme.
It comes as the programme was examined by the Public Accounts Committee yesterday (22 October).
Over 451,000 pupils in 2,646 schools availed of the scheme last year.
A committee was investigating the hot school meals financial controls after the state auditor found that €4.2million was allocated for funding for meals for children in excess of pupil enrolment records, according to the Irish Independent.
The Comptroller and Auditor General also highlighted that €34 million in surpluses had accumulated in school accounts because the department had over-allocated money for hot school meals.
€286 million had been allocated for the programme for 2026, with the wider school meals programme costing €230 million last year.
Questions had also previously been raised about the nutritional value of the meals.
Speaking on Kildare Today, Social Democrats TD for Kildare North Aidan Farrelly says the potential benefits of the scheme are "massive".
"This initiative has massive potential benefits, for every child to be guaranteed one hot school meal, the research shows that it would have a really positive impact on their educational experience."
Deputy Farrelly did, however, criticised the lack of a cost-benefit analysis for the programme, something he described as a "red flag" to not have a qualitative analysis of the scheme, while also remarking that the programme costs in the region of €90,000 a year per school.
"I'm adamant there's definitely a better way you could do this [the programme], but the Department have returned to me that this has ramped up really quickly to the point that we have 2,850 schools signed up and they hope to even have more than it next year.
"It's not perfect, it's a really welcome the step in addressing child poverty and attendance, but there's a long way to go yet," the Deputy concluded.
The full interview can be heard below:
Kildare Earns 12 Gold Awards In Tidy Towns Ceremony
Mass To Remember Ryan Weir Gibbons Taking Place In Kildare Town This Weekend
Concerns Of Anti-Social Behaviour In Kill Raised Ahead Of Halloween Period
Kfm Obituary Notices
Sisters Injured In M9 Crash Describe It As "One Of The Most Difficult Chapters" Of Their Lives
Over 30 Reports Of Drug Debt Intimidation In Kildare
Normal People Actors Among Signatures On Letter To UK Government Supporting Sally Rooney
