Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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442. To ask the Minister for Health the number of official food control planned and unplanned surveillance inspections of food businesses at the end of June 2018 or the latest date available. [30180/18]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Official control inspections in food businesses are carried out by a range of State bodies (‘official agencies’) under service contracts with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI).  The official agencies include the HSE, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Local Authorities, Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority and National Standards Authority of Ireland; each official agency has responsibility for official controls in certain sectors of the food supply chain.

The official controls verify compliance by food business operators with the requirements of food legislation, including food hygiene and safety, traceability, authenticity, labelling, and food standards.  Where necessary, enforcement action is taken to ensure consumer protection and food safety.  The FSAI monitors the work done by the official agencies and reports on it to my Department.

The most recent complete data available on official control inspections in food businesses, including planned and unplanned inspections are for January-December 2017 and are presented in the table below.  In total, 63,723 inspections were carried in 2017.

*Includes planned and unplanned surveillance inspections