A snadwich bar, a pub and a hotel were yesterday fined between €1,500 and €6,500 after health inspectors found varying degrees of dirty and unhygienic conditions.
Graham O'Sullivan Ltd, Dún Laoghaire Shopping Centre, one of a chain of sandwich and restaurant outlets in Dublin, was fined €6,500 after admitting 13 breaches of the food hygiene regulations.
Dublin District Court heard an environmental health officer found the premises in a filthy state in June 2001. Included in her list of breaches were condensation caused by an inadequate refrigeration ventilation system leaking on to food; haphazard dating and storage of frozen goods; food stored in a corroded metal trolley; inadequate kitchen cleaning facilities and rubbish in a supermarket trolley.
The owner and manager had to be contacted a number of times to have matters dealt with. A solicitor for the company said the restaurant was within a shopping centre and there had been certain difficulties with ventilation. Refurbishment work costing €100,000 had since been carried out.
The Barge Pub, Charlemont Street, Dublin, was fined €1,500 after admitting six hygiene breaches following an inspection of its restaurant on December 14th, 2001. An inspector found rat droppings in the fuse box in a corridor off the kitchen. The inspector accepted that food staff had no reason to open the fuse box and there were no droppings anywhere else.
Accumulations of dirt and debris were found on shelving, washing facilities were inadequate and kitchen tiles were missing. The restaurant closed for a day at the request of the health board and reopened the following day after the officer was satisfied there was no longer a danger.
O'Shea's Hotel, Talbot Street, Dublin, was fined €3,200 for 16 breaches on June 11th, 2001. An inspector found there was no cleaning system in place, inadequate staff toilet and changing facilities, insufficient ventilation and poor shelving and flooring. The hotel had since taken steps to bring all matters up to standard.
All three premises were ordered to pay health board costs of €825 each.