asked the Minister for Health if in view of the fact that certain cafés and restaurants have recently closed down for not conforming with the sanitary regulations of his Department he will give details of the inspection of cafés and restaurants, including the number of inspectors employed in this work, the types of cafés and restaurants inspected, and the frequency of inspections carried out by his Department.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Café and Restaurant Inspection.
6.
In his question, the Deputy has referred to sanitary regulations. I may say that the Minister for Health is not the responsible Minister in sanitary matters. I presume, therefore, that he has in mind the Food Hygiene Regulations, 1950 to 1961, which prescribe standards of hygiene for food premises. These regulations are administered by health authorities. The inspection of cafés and restaurants is carried out mainly by health inspectors appointed by such authorities. There are 156 such inspectors, most of whom have the duty of inspecting food premises as part of their work.
As Minister for Health, I have no knowledge of the total number of cafés or restaurants which may have been closed down. The main functions of the Minister for Health under the regulations are appellate and such inspections as are made by my officers are solely for the purpose of assisting me in determining appeals against refusals of health authorities to register food premises including cafés and restaurants. Since the beginning of the year, 11 such inspections were carried out, of which six were inspections of restaurants or café premises.