More than 6,500 pupils in 36 primary schools around the country will receive a hot meal every school day from next month.
Children involved in the pilot project will have a choice of two meals, with vegetarian and vegan options being provided.
The existing school meals programme targets schools in disadvantaged areas, but this new scheme includes a broad range of schools.
Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection Regina Doherty said that not getting a hot meal during the day is one of the long-term indicators of poverty.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland she said: "I think if we can improve the educational outcomes for our children, I think that's probably the greatest equaliser with regard to poverty in the country. And so, I tried to see how we could address the issue with regard to consistent poverty".
Ms Doherty said that two thirds of the 36 schools in the pilot programme are from the DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) background.
She said the schools were selected so they could learn about the impact a hot meal has on children when they go to school.
She said it was important they could learn about its impact with accurate information from the schools.
The minister said the scheme is expected to continue for the next term year, but she hopes it will grow after that once it is reviewed.
She said that €57.6m is spent on the current school meals programme, but she believes the hot school meals scheme would have a more significant impact.
She said the budget for the scheme will depend on the growing economy.
She said it would probably cost double the current school meals programme to expand the hot meals scheme.
"I want to make sure we give the equality of opportunity to all of our children in every county of the country to have the best educational experience that they can in our primary school system to allow them to go on to be able to have better opportunities as they get older. So we need to learn by the pilot project," Ms Doherty added.
Tonya Hanley, principal of Our Lady of Lourdes National School in Inchicore in Dublin, where the project has been trialled since the beginning of the year.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland she said the children involved have said they feel like they have more energy in the afternoons and they look forward to the food.
"There is a certain amount of food poverty in our community as there is in many communities around the country. So it’s hugely beneficial and they have learned about food production, where the dinners come from, and you know the parents have also been involved. So its been great," she said.
