Free guide
When the HSE's environmental health officer calls, the visit runs on your records. Here's the set an Irish cafe keeps — temperatures, deliveries, allergens, cleaning, training — and what 'good' looks like for each.
Sources checked 2026-07-09 · your local authority always has the final say.
Ireland · inspection basics
Ireland follows the EU's 14-allergen regime — the same list as the UK.
Irish food law expects a HACCP-based system with records that prove it runs. For a cafe that means:
EU law requires every food business to know where its food came from — 'one step back'. In practice that's your supplier list and delivery records: who supplied what, when, in what condition. When a recall or a complaint lands, this is the record that answers 'which batch, from whom, used in what?'.
Batch-level records of goods-in — even simple ones — turn a stressful recall into a lookup.
The pattern is the same everywhere: contemporaneous, honest, and acted-on. A record with an occasional failure and a written corrective action reads as a working system; a flawless month filled in with one pen reads as homework. Digital records make the honest version the easy version — time-stamped entries, same-day visibility of gaps, exports on demand.
Common questions
Most cafes and restaurants register with the HSE (Health Service Executive) before opening; the FSAI is the national coordinating authority. Registration is free, and HSE environmental health officers carry out the inspections.
Yes — Ireland follows the EU food information rules, which name the same 14 allergens. Loose (non-prepacked) food in Ireland must have allergen information available in writing, so a maintained allergen matrix does the job directly.
Keep them long enough to cover the shelf life of the food plus a sensible margin — many Irish businesses keep routine records for at least a year, and inspection reports indefinitely. Digital storage makes 'keep everything' the default rather than a filing burden.
Keep going
Links verified 2026-07-09. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we'll correct it.
More guides: Safe Catering (FSAI)
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