The closed kitchen and staff canteen area of the Wee Care creche at RTÉ’s Donnybrook headquarters was among the businesses served with Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) closure orders in June.
Overall, the FSAI served eight closure orders on food businesses last month, four under the FSAI Act, 1998, and four under the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020.
On June 16, FSAI inspectors served a closure order, under the FSAI Act of 1998, to Wee Care creche’s kitchen and staff canteen in Donnybrook, Dublin, after finding a “significant number of rodent droppings” on the floor behind and underneath two fridges, one freezer, and an oven in the kitchen.
The two areas are closed-off areas. Further droppings were found behind and underneath a fridge in the staff canteen. In their report, the FSAI noted that adequate procedures were “not in place to control pests in the premises”.
The report also said there was a “grave and immediate danger to food safety” in the food premises due to rodent activity. The closure order was lifted two days later on June 18.
During a June 25 inspection of Doolin Ice Cream’s closed food store area in its yard on Fisher Street in Doolin, Co Clare, FSAI inspectors said they encountered a “significant number of rodent droppings” in the food store.
Droppings were also noted in a box containing lids for smoothie cups, with plastic wrapping covering the lids damaged due to “gnawing by rodents”. Droppings were also found on a shelf located directly beside boxes of cone wafers, as well as on the floor beside an ice cream freezer on site.
The business was served with a closure order on the same date. The order was subsequently lifted on June 30.
Under the FSAI Act of 1998, closure orders were also issued last month to:
- All Bar Chicken Coolock (Service Sector), located at 10A, Ringuard House, Malahide Road Industrial Estate, Malahide Road, Coolock, Dublin 17. The order was issued on June 10 and lifted on June 24;
- and Il Vicolo (Restaurant/Café), located at Bridge Mills, on O’Briens Bridge, in Galway City. The order was issued on June 4 and lifted on June 6.
Under the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations 2020, closure orders were also issued last month to:
- Tunisian Halal Butcher, located at Unit 8, Aldi Centre, St Margarets Road, Finglas, Dublin 11. The order was issued on June 27 and lifted July 1;
- Frenchpark Service Station, specifically its rear store room used to store foodstuffs, located on the Dublin Road in Frenchpark, Roscommon. The order was issued on June 4 and was not noted as having been lifted at the time of writing;
- Fresh Today, located on Athboy Road in Trim, Co Meath. The order, which applied to the decanting and repacking of foodstuffs on the premises for retail to the final consumer, with the exception of fruit and vegetables, was issued on June 3. It was not noted as having been lifted at the time of writing;
- and Zone Activity Centre (closed activity: part of the activities of the business, its establishments, holdings, or other premises be ceased. The food stall activity located in the carpark at Zone Activity Centre) (Restaurant/ Café), located at unit 1 and 2, at the Mullaghboy Industrial Estate in Mullaghboy, Navan, Co Meath. The order was issued on June 6 and lifted the following day.
Speaking on Wednesday, FSAI chief executive Greg Dempsey said that every food business has “a legal responsibility to ensure the food they produce is safe to eat”.
“Failures like poor hygiene, pest activity, and improper storage are basic errors that can have severe consequences to public health,” he said. “Food safety isn’t optional, it’s essential.”
Mr Dempsey said that while the FSAI understands the daily pressures on businesses, “food safety and hygiene standards must be maintained at all times”.
“A robust food safety management system not only protects public health, but it also supports the long-term success of the food business,” he added. “Non-compliance with food law is not tolerated and enforcement action will be taken where standards fall short.”
