Six restaurants were shut down during August for breaching hygiene regulations, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) said yesterday.
The premises were the Shanghai Chinese restaurant in Skibbereen, Co Cork; the Tian Tian fish market in Dublin's Moore Street; Goslin's pub in Gorey, Co Wexford; Lam's Chinese takeaway in Loughrea, Co Galway; and two catering firms working at the Earl of Kildare Hotel in Dublin.
FSAI chief executive Dr John O'Brien warned that all consumers must be confident that the food they purchase is safe to eat.
"Closure orders are served when there are serious legal infringements and standards have fallen so low that the public's health has been put at risk," he said.
"All food businesses must adhere to best food safety and hygiene practices in their premises.
"Food businesses that neglect food safety and put their customers' health at risk will not be tolerated and risk being closed down until such time as they have implemented the correct food safety procedures."
The restaurants will remain closed until environmental health inspectors deem them sufficiently safe to reopen.
The names of the restaurants will remain on the FSAI website for three months from the date of when a premises is adjudged to have corrected its hygiene problems.
A total of 22 restaurants have so far been shut down in 2005, compared to 42 for the whole of 2004.