Health « Thurles Information

Irish Traveller Family Settle High Court Action Against Tipperary Co. Council.

An Irish Traveller family of six, named as Mr John and Mrs Nikita McInerney, together with their four young children, have now settled a High Court action taken against Tipperary County Council, latter who had opposed their claim.

The family had been forced to reside in a single-berth caravan and to sleeping in a motor vehicle, while camping in a variety of locations, including a retail park and by the roadside. The family had stated that they were under constant fear of prosecution and having their vehicle seized by Gardaí, who continuously sought their removal, which resulted in the family seeking orders and declarations from the court.

The family’s legal representatives had argued that the council’s policy was rigid and failed to meet their basic needs. According to them, the council only provided funding that partially covered the cost of hotel or B & B accommodation. Furthermore, they claimed the caravan given to them was totally unsuitable for their family’s needs. The family alleged that Tipperary County Council’s decision had violated constitutional and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the council’s own obligations under the 2014 Irish Human Rights and Equality Act.

After a legal battle, a resolution has now been reached and the council have provided the McInerney family with a four-bedroom house on an emergency basis, which in turn has resulted in the court case being dropped.

The judge has welcomed the settlement and praised the efforts of both parties in resolving their dispute.
This case further highlights the need for government agencies and County Councils to ensure that their policies and actions remain in line with existing human rights and equality legislation.

Two Enforcement Orders Served On Cashel, Co. Tipperary Food Businesses.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) today reported that ten Enforcement Orders were served on food businesses during the month of August for breaches of food safety legislation, pursuant to the FSAI Act, 1998 and the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020. The Enforcement Orders were issued by Environmental Health Officers in the Health Service Executive (HSE) and officers of the FSAI.

Four Closure Orders were served under the FSAI Act, 1998 on:

(1) Cashel Curry and Pizza House (restaurant/café), No. 41 Main Street Cashel, Co. Tipperary.
(2) Ginzeng (restaurant/café), Unit 253, Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15
(3) Bakers and Baristas (restaurant/café) (Closed area: The external dry goods storage area for this premises, housing the cold room and freezer room. Access to the cold and freezer room is permitted), Unit 230, Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15.
(4) D Grill (restaurant/café), No.40 Aungier Street, Dublin 2.

Five Closure Orders were served under the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020 on:
(1) Paddy O’Dwyer Quality Meats Ltd. (Butcher shop) [Closed activity: The process of cooling down cooked foods (such as prepared dinners) ], Unit No. 3, Upper Friar Street, Cashel, Co. Tipperary.
(2) The Bernard Shaw (restaurant/café) (Closed areas: The basement area of the premises including food rooms, staff facilities and adjacent storage rooms), Cross Guns Bridge, Glasnevin, Dublin 9.
(3) McSorley’s Centra, Old Dublin Road, Enniscorthy, Wexford.
(4) Dalesann Haulage Limited, Jamestown House, Jamestown Business Park, Jamestown Road, Dublin 11.
(5) Mizzoni Pizza (Take Away), 12 Railway Street, Navan, Meath.

One Prohibition Order was served under the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations 2020 on:

(1) M Vape (retailer), 22 Castle Street, Sligo

Some of the reasons for the Enforcement Orders in August include: serious flooding in the basement, with damp and mould on the walls; filthy and flooded staff toilets; a defective ice machine leaking down the stairwell into the basement; bags of ice stored in non-food grade plastic bags, risking contamination; bird faeces and dead flies found in multiple locations throughout the premises; evidence of rodent activity in the cold room and freezer room, with inadequate pest control procedures in place; a leaking roof; food stored at unsafe temperatures, with a lack of temperature monitoring records; a failure to provide hot running water at sinks, risking contamination of food and food contact materials; the sale of unauthorised products; a business had not been approved by a competent authority, where it was not possible to verify compliance with food safety legislation; a lack of allergen information, both online and onsite; staff not effectively trained or supervised with regards to food safety and best practice.

Commenting, Dr Pamela Byrne, (Chief Executive, FSAI,) said that food businesses must operate strict food safety procedures at all times and that they need to be extra vigilant during periods of warm weather.

“Warmer weather can bring challenges, and both food businesses and staff must be attentive to potential issues, whether this be increased insect activity or issues with temperature controls. Food businesses have a legal requirement to ensure that hot and cold food is prepared with care and then stored appropriately, maintaining the hot or cold chain throughout preparation, storage and point of sale.

Incidents of flooding were recorded in some of the August Enforcement Orders. These pose a serious threat to public health. Flood water that has entered your food business may have been contaminated with sewage, animal and other waste from drains or surrounding areas. There is then a substantial risk of onward contamination of food, equipment and food contact surfaces with harmful bacteria or even chemicals. Following flooding and the subsequent clean-up operation, it is advisable to speak to your local Environmental Health Officer for more advice before re-opening,” said Dr Byrne.

Details of the food businesses served with Enforcement Orders are published on the FSAI’s website at www.fsai.ie.
Closure Orders and Improvement Orders will remain listed in the enforcement reports on the website for a period of three months from the date of when a premises is adjudged to have corrected its food safety issue, with Prohibition Orders being listed for a period of one month.

Recall Of Batches Of Lidl Retailed ‘McEnnedy Corn Dogs’ Due To Listeria monocytogenes.

Product Identification: McEnnedy Corn Dogs; pack size: 530g.

Batch Code Use by dates: 28.04.2024, 10.06.2024 and 10.08.2024.

Country Of Origin: Germany.

The above identified batches of McEnnedy Corn Dogs are being recalled by Lidl, on the insistance of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI), due to the presence of Listeria monocytogenes.

FSAI request that ‘Recall notices’ be displayed at point-of-sale in Lidl stores.

Nature Of Danger:
Symptoms of Listeria monocytogenes infection can include mild flu-like symptoms, or gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.
In rare cases, the infection can be more severe, causing serious complications. Some people are more vulnerable to Listeria monocytogenes infections, including pregnant women, babies, and people with weakened immune systems, including the elderly.
The incubation period (time between initial infection and first symptoms appearing) is on average 3 weeks but can range between 3 and 70 days.

Consumers are advised not to eat the implicated, identified batches.

FSAI Recall Batch Of Lidl Vemondo Vegetarian Chicken-Style Strips.

Product Identification: Vemondo Vegetarian Chicken-Style Strips, pack size: 175g
Batch Code – Use by date: 07.09.24.
Country Of Origin: Germany.

Lidl Ireland, following the request of the Food Safety Association of Ireland (FSAI), is recalling the above batch of Vemondo Vegetarian Chicken-Style Strips, due to an incorrect year on the use-by date.

The correct use-by date is 07.09.23.
Customers are therefore advised not to consume the product after 07.09.23, when the product may be unfit for human consumption.

Recall notices will be displayed at points-of-sale, in all implicated Lidl stores.

Tipperary Population Growth According To Census 2022 Summary Results.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) at the end of May this year, 2023, published their Census 2022 Summary Results, which details the population changes at a national level since April 2016.
They have also broken down the results on a county by county level, highlighting some of the main changes, and a full list of all county press releases are available, including county Tipperary, HERE.

Summary Results for Co. Tipperary.
Census 2022 shows that the population of Tipperary grew by 5% to 167,895, which concludes that the number of people in the county rose by 8,342 between April 2016 and April 2022. Over the same period, Ireland’s population grew by 8% from 4,761,865 to 5,149,139.

Tipperary Population – Males and Females.
Of Tipperary’s population, 84,256 were female and 83,639 were male, which means there were 99 males for every 100 females. In Ireland, overall, there were 2,604,590 females and 2,544,549 males or 98 males for every 100 females.

Population by Age.
The average age of Tipperary’s population in April 2022 was 40.3 years, compared with 38.6 years in April 2016. Nationally, the average age of the population was 38.8, up from 37.4 in April 2016.

The number of people aged 65 and over continues to grow. This age group increased by 20% to 29,356 in Tipperary, and by 22% to 776,315 at a national level since 2016.

Dual Irish Citizens.
In Tipperary, the number of dual Irish citizens increased from 2,329 to 3,904, while non-Irish citizens accounted for 9% of the county’s population. Nationally, dual Irish citizenship increased by 63% from 104,784 to 170,597 people and non-Irish citizens made up 12% of the population.

Divorce and Separations
The proportion of separated and divorced people in Tipperary remained steady at 7% of the population (aged 15 and over), compared to 6% in 2016. The national comparison was 6% in both 2022 and 2016.

Health.
In 2022, 83% of people in Tipperary stated that their health was good or very good, compared with 87% in 2016. This is a similar trend to the national figures, which also showed a 4% decrease in the good/very good categories, from 87% to 83%.

Irish Speakers.
The number of people (aged three and over) who stated that they could speak Irish in Tipperary was 66,003 compared with 65,391 in 2016. Within this figure 1,258 said they spoke Irish daily while 3,540 spoke Irish weekly.
Nationally, 1,873,997 people stated they were able to speak Irish, with 71,968 speaking Irish daily and 115,065 speaking it weekly.

Employment.
There were 73,207 people (aged 15 and over) at work in Tipperary, an increase of 9,735 people (+15%) between 2016 and 2022. Nationally, there were 313,656 additional people (+16%) at work.

Working From Home.
In Tipperary, 17,665 people (aged 15 and over) worked from home at least one day a week in 2022. This represented 24% of the workforce. The national figure was 32%.

Childcare.
This was a new question for Census 2022. There were 33,286 children aged 15 and under in Tipperary in April 2022. Of these, 12,173 (37%) were in childcare, compared with 33% nationally.

Tenure.
In 2022, in Tipperary 69% of households owned their own home, with a further 24% renting. This compared with 66% of households owning their home nationally and 28% renting.

Housing Stock.

Between April 2016 and April 2022, housing stock in the county grew by 2% from 69,106 to 70,608. The number of vacant dwellings decreased by 15% from 7,493 to 6,344 and the number of holiday homes rose by 8% from 1,009 to 1,093. Nationally, the housing stock grew by more than 5% from 2,003,645 to 2,112,121. The number of vacant dwellings fell by almost 20,000 (-11%) to 163,433 and the number of holiday homes rose by 8% from 62,148 to 66,956.

It is important to note that a dwelling classified as vacant for census purposes does not necessarily imply that it is available for re-use. Census vacancy is essentially a point in time measure which may be different to other reported measures of vacancy which may focus more on longer term vacancy. For more information on the census definition of vacancy, please see Editor’s Notes below.

Housing Tenure (Owners and Renters).
In April 2022, 43,024 of homes were owner-occupied in Tipperary, compared with 42,030 in April 2016. The number of homes owned with a mortgage or loan fell by 8% from 17,616 to 16,256 since Census 2016 while the number of homes owned outright (without a loan or mortgage) increased by 10%, from 24,414 to 26,768. Homes rented from private landlords showed a 6% increase from 7,894 to 8,336. Nationally, 66% of homes were owner occupied. Some 531,207 homes were owned with a mortgage or loan, while almost 680,000 homes were owned without a mortgage or loan, which was up 11% from 2016. More than 330,000 homes were rented from a private landlord, an increase of 7% since 2016.

There was a significant increase of 83% (up to almost 17,000 households) in the number of over 65s renting from a private landlord in the State. In Tipperary, the number of homes rented in the 65 and over age group was 502 (which was a 92% increase). In the 60 to 64 age group, it was up 83% compared with 69% nationally.

Census 2022 shows that by the age of 36, more than half of householders in Tipperary owned their own home (with or without a mortgage or loan). Nationally this age was 36. This age, which marks the changeover between home ownership and renting, has been increasing over time, up from 26 years in 1991, 27 years in 2002, 28 years in 2006, 32 years in 2011, and 35 years in 2016.
Rent Increases

Renters have continued to face large increases in the amount of rent they pay. Between the 2016 and 2022 censuses, the average weekly rent paid to a private landlord in Tipperary in April 2022 was €161, which was a 30% increase on 2016. The average weekly rent paid to a private landlord (at national level) rose to €273, up €73 (37%). This was more than double the rate of increase (17%) between 2011 and 2016.

Vacancy.
Many properties classed as vacant in the census may only be vacant for a short period of time and for a wide variety of reasons including homes for sale, rent, new build or renovation, owner in a nursing home, etc. However, there were more than 2,242 dwellings classed as vacant both in the 2016 and 2022 censuses in Tipperary, which could be an indication of a longer-term vacancy status. Nationally the figure was just under 48,000.

The Census definition of a vacant dwelling is a point in time indicator taken on Census night which in these cases means that the dwellings were vacant on the census nights for both 2016 and 2022. (For more information on the census definition of vacancy, please see the Editors notes below).
Data from New Household Questions

Census 2022 included new household questions on the number of working smoke alarms and how we use renewable energy sources in our homes. Tipperary had 3,145 homes with no smoke alarms. Homes with solar panels amounted to 4,220 which was 7% of occupied dwellings in the county. Nationally, almost 72,000 homes had no smoke alarms and 119,300 or 6% of occupied homes had solar panels fitted.