A Co Clare-based ferry company which has a Government contract to deliver food and other goods to the three Aran islands on a year-round basis, has been convicted and fined €900, plus €800 costs, for one breach of EU food hygiene regulations.
O'Brien Shipping Ltd, Doolin Pier, Doolin, Co Clare, was prosecuted by the Western Health Board for two breaches of hygiene regulations after the company's boat, Oileann Arainn was inspected at Inis Mór pier on August 26th last by environmental health officer, Mr Enda Skehill.
Mr Skehill told Galway District Court yesterday he found food such as raw chicken, yogurts, ham fillets and Muller rice stored on pallets in the hold of the ship. These food types, he said, should have been in a refrigerated compartment, and kept at temperatures between -1 and 5 degrees, but instead they were stored in the hold, which showed an air temperature of 21.3 degrees. The raw chicken, Mr Skehill said, showed a temperature reading of 16.7C, the ham fillets were 15 degrees, while the Muller rice was 16.4 degrees. These temperatures constituted a risk to health, he added.
The company was also prosecuted for failing to provide refrigerated storage on the ship.
Mr William O'Brien, company director, said he had sought advice from the Western Health Board on how best to carry foodstuffs to the Aran Islands, but it had refused to meet with the company.
He denied the summons before the court, stating that the food on the pallets had been stored in refrigerated compartments prior to Mr Skehill boarding the boat at Kilronan Pier and had just been taken out for off-loading to the pier. He said the company had invested nearly €10,000 last year in installing a refrigerated compartment, along with two chest deep freezers and two chest refrigerators. It also had a walk-in cold room.
Judge Leo Malone convicted the company on the second summons of failing to keep vulnerable foodstuffs at correct temperatures and fined it €900, plus €800 costs.