Health « Thurles Information

Closure Order Served On Tipperary Chinese ‘Take Away’.

Four food closure orders were served on food businesses in Ireland during the month of October, one of which was on a Chinese ‘Take Away’ premises in South Co. Tipperary.

The closure orders were pursuant to the FSAI Act, 1998, and the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020.

All four ‘Closure Orders’; three of which were at Dublin addresses, were issued by Environmental Health Officers in the Health Service Executive, for flagrant breaches of strict food safety legislation.

The Tipperary Closure Order was served on Zhang Yu Qing and referred to the

According to the Food Hygiene Inspection Report, the Clogheen Food premises was not kept clean or maintained in good repair and condition.

Evidence provided included:-

Large accumulation of loose food waste, domestic waste, and recycling waste thrown in all areas of the back yard.
Build-up of slime and grease in ground area of backyard.
Food equipment and utensils stored on the ground outside and inside.
Uncovered ready to eat food stored in outside backyard area.
Embedded grease and dirt on all cooking appliances in kitchen.
Accumulation of dead flies on food storage shelf in cooking area.
Congealed grease dripping onto food preparation surfaces.
Food storage containers unclean and embedded with dirt.
Food utensils with rust evident.
Piping surrounding sinks embedded with congealed dirt grease and slime.
Mould evident on seals of chest freezer and fridges.
Large build-up of stale food debris around all cooking equipment.
Food waste bins covered in Grease, stale food and dirt not removed since day before.

Commenting on all four Closure Orders served last month, Dr Pamela Byrne, Chief Executive, FSAI, said it was disappointing that inspectors continue to find a lack of evidence of safe cleaning practices in food businesses.
Dr Byrne stated “It is a legal requirement for all food businesses to have their premises protected against pests and kept clean and yet food inspectors continue to find unacceptable levels of non-compliance with food safety legislation in some food businesses.
There is a personal responsibility for managers and all employees to comply with food safety law at all times. There can be zero tolerance for negligent practices that put consumers’ health at risk and Environmental Health Officers will use the full powers available to them under food law if a food business is found to be in breach. Consumers have a right to safe food and food businesses have a legal requirement to ensure that the food they are processing, serving or selling is safe to eat,”

Dementia Friendly Thurles.

Dementia is not a specific disease, but is rather a general term for the impaired ability to remember, think, or make decisions that interferes with doing everyday activities.

Thurles Nurse Ursula Paine Now Reports: –

“Our next Memory Cafe will take place on Wednesday morning next, November 2nd, 2022, in the Bookworm Bookshop, No.1 Parnell Street, Thurles, Co. Tipperary, running from 11:00am until 12.30pm.

The topic being covered this month will relate to speech and language issues, that a person may experience as a result of dementia; same which interferes with the ability to communicate, eat safely, drink or swallow.

We will have a guest speaker, Claire, a speech and language therapist, latter from the HSE, to discuss this topic within the group, and all are welcome to attend.”

Road Safety Fines For Offences On Irish Roads Increase From Today.

Fines for a total of 16 road safety offences have doubled today.
Implementation of Action 30 of Road Safety Strategy.
Stronger deterrent to those who choose to break our lifesaving rules of the road.
World Health Organisation, estimate 5% reduction in average speed could result in a 30% reduction in fatal collisions.

Fines for speeding, will increase from €80 to €160, while fines for mobile phone use; the non-wearing of seat belts; and failing to ensure that a child is properly restrained within a motor vehicle, will rise from €60 to €120, and all with effect from midnight last night.

Fines for a learner permit holder driving a vehicle unaccompanied by a fully qualified licence bearing person will now increase from €80 to €160. Novice and learner drivers who fail to display ‘L’ or ‘N’ plates, or tabard vests in the case of motorcyclists, will see their fines also doubled to €120.

Three new fixed-charge notices will also come into force in early 2023, same relating to the misuse of a disabled parking permit (Fine €200), illegally parking in an electric charging bay (Fine €80) and breaching a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) ban and entering a specified public road without a valid permit (Fine €200).

These new measure comes into effect as the death toll on Irish roads this year has already risen to 122, an increase of 11 deaths, when compared to the same period last year.

However, motorists believe that this doubling of road offence fines has more to do with raising Irish revenue, rather than reducing deaths on our roads.

Pedestrian Struck By Car In Barry’s Bridge Area Of Thurles.

Traffic was brought to a halt at about 12:00 noon today, here in Thurles, when a female pedestrian, came into contact with a moving vehicle in the area of Barry’s Bridge and Barry’s Castle.

The lady pedestrian is understood to possibly have lost her balance, leaving a nearby pavement, before colliding with a slow moving vehicle, latter exiting from Barry’s Bridge unto Emmett Street in the town.

It was raining heavily at the time of the accident, as confirmed by extensive flooding on nearby Kickham Street, for the second time in just 10 days.

Despite backed up heavy traffic, and the narrow streetscape, Gardai and an Ambulance crew managed to effectively reach the scene.

The female pedestrian managed to walk to the ambulance aided by crew and from her posture appeared to be suffering from shock and possibly slight head injuries.

We have no further update at this time.

This is the second such incident involving pedestrians in this immediate area in the past 5 months.

Sewage Continues To Harm Quality Of Our Rivers, Lakes & Coastal Waters, Says EPA.

A must read for Thurles residents and their businesses.

QUESTION: Were Thurles Councillors & Officials duped yet again at their Monday meeting with Irish Water officials?

Poorly treated sewage continues to harm the quality of our rivers, lakes and coastal waters, says EPA.

Just half (51%) of Ireland’s sewage was treated to the European Union standards set to protect our environment, well below the EU average of 90%.
Works to eliminate raw sewage flowing into seas and rivers from 32 towns and villages have commenced or are due to start by 2024.
Irish Water has no clear plan to improve treatment at 27 priority areas where waste water discharges are impacting on rivers, lakes and coastal waters.

The EPA report on Urban Waste Water Treatment in 2021, [Found HERE] and released today, shows that investment in waste water infrastructure is delivering improvements to priority areas identified by the EPA, but treatment at many areas is still not as good as it needs to be.

**Emmett Street running parallel with River Suir.**

“Irish Water does not have clear plans in place to deal with one-third of the priority areas where waste water is adversely impacting the environment and has not allocated resources in its investment plan to complete improvements at these areas” ~ says EPA

Irish Water must provide for all improvements needed at these areas in its next investment plan, which covers the period 2025-2029.

Launching the report today, Dr Tom Ryan, EPA Director said: “This report shows that targeting investment at the priority areas identified by the EPA is delivering improvements in water quality, and the elimination of raw sewage discharges from Cobh and Castletownbere in Cork are good examples of progress.
However, it will take a high level of sustained investment over the next two decades to bring all treatment systems across the country up to the required standard to protect the environment and public health”.
Dr. Ryan added: “Irish Water has failed to produce action plans to improve treatment at one-third of the priority areas identified by EPA where waste water is harming our rivers, lakes and coastal waters. It is essential that Irish Water provides clear, site specific action plans and time frames to improve treatment in these areas, and it needs to allocate the necessary resources in its next investment cycle to implement and complete them and to resolve the associated environmental harms”.

Ireland’s largest treatment plant at Ringsend in Dublin is overloaded and fails to consistently treat sewage to the required standards. A major upgrade of the plant began in 2018 and is due to be completed in 2025.
Construction work to provide treatment for the 32 areas discharging raw sewage listed in the report is either ongoing or due to start in the next two years. It is essential that Irish Water delivers these projects as soon as possible.

Mr Noel Byrne, EPA Programme Manager said: “Sixteen years after the final deadline to comply, half of Ireland’s sewage is still not treated to the standards set to protect the environment. It is particularly concerning to see some towns such as Ballymote in Sligo failing in 2021, despite having the necessary treatment infrastructure and meeting the standards in 2020. This highlights the need for improved vigilance and oversight by Irish Water to make sure treatment infrastructure is always operated at its optimum”.

The report also highlights that Irish Water needs to improve its information on the condition and performance of sewers to inform and plan upgrade works necessary to mitigate environmental risks from sewer overflows.

The report is now available on the EPA website HERE.