Ten food businesses were forced to close last month over breaches of food safety legislation.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) also said two prohibition orders were served on food businesses during the month for breaches.
FSAI chief executive Prof Alan Reilly said he was disappointed the number of enforcement orders was significantly higher than the same period in 2012.
He said every enforcement order was “one too many, and each order lowers consumer confidence in not just the business involved, but for the industry as a whole”.
Businesses closed under the FSAI Act 1998 were:
- Amerta Chinese Restaurant, 1 Clifton Avenue, Monkstown, Co Dublin
- German Cakes and Snacks (restaurant), 15 Percival Street, Kanturk, Cork
- Imperial Chinese Restaurant, 3-4 The Spa, Mallow, Cork
- Asian European Foodstore, 39 Lavitt's Quay, Cork
- At the Office Catering, 3rd Floor PCRS, Exit 5, M50 North Road, Finglas, Dublin 11
Five closure orders were also served under the EC (Official Control of Foodstuffs) Regulations, 2010 on the following businesses:
- Jimmy's Take Away, Market Square, Mountrath, Laois
- McGovern's Victuallers, High Street, Drumshambo, Leitrim
- Grocery food business carried out by Maria Lidia Silva da Cruz and Joao Antonio da Cruz, 10 The Steeples, Duleek, Meath
- Boody's Chipper, Three Bullet Gate, New Ross, Wexford
- Gojinka (restaurant), Manor Mall Shopping Centre, Swords, Co. Dublin
Prohibition orders were also served on Taste of the Sea fishmonger, 1 Merchants Square, The Market, Ennis, Co Clare and on McGovern’s Victuallers, High Street, Drumshanbo, Co Leitrim.
The HSE also carried out a successful prosecution on Dragon Inn (take away), 109 Newport Terrace, Barrack St, Waterford.
Monaghan County Council successfully prosecuted Flynn’s Irish Meats (manufacturer), John Matthews Enterprise Centre, Clones, Monaghan
The orders are issued by environmental health officers in the Health Service Executive.