A Galway hotel was fined £300 and ordered to pay £800 costs at Galway District Court this week for breaches of the hygiene regulations.
The Western Health Board prosecuted the Victoria Hotel after warning notices, issued following a health and hygiene inspection in June of last year, had not been acted on by last September.
An environmental health officer, Mr Enda Scahill, inspected the hotel in September and observed several breaches of the hygiene regulations.
He told the court that the hallway between the kitchen and salad preparation room was dirty; there were egg stains and eggshells congealed on the wall; the women's and men's staff toilets were dirty; there were no segregated areas in the kitchen for cooked and uncooked food, allowing the possibility of cross-contamination; and cooking utensils were stored in a plastic container littered with food debris.
Mr Scahill said he had since revisited the premises, and everything was in order.
Ms Angela Dempsey, defending, said the hotel had been inspected at 11.15 a.m. after 140 guests had been served breakfast, and it was inevitable the kitchen would be at its messiest. In addition, the kitchen porter had not turned up for work and the staff were very busy.