Starting a coffee van or cart in Ireland: licences, pitches and council fees

A coffee van in Ireland needs two separate permissions. The first is food registration: the HSE says you must notify it before you start, and the FSAI says that once the van is notified it can operate anywhere in the country. The second is a casual trading licence from the council where you want to trade, which is not nationwide: Dublin, Cork and Galway city councils each set their own pitches and fees. Start by asking the council, because a deck hosted by the Offaly Local Enterprise Office says that for a truck which trades on a public and truly mobile basis, the council office may be the beginning and end of your plans.

Do I need a licence to run a coffee van in Ireland?

In most cases, two things: a notification to the HSE, and a casual trading licence if you sell on a public road, in a public place or in a designated trading area. The Casual Trading Act 1995 defines casual trading as selling goods at a place, including a public road, to which the public have access as of right, or at any other place that is a casual trading area. Dublin City Council says a licence is required to engage in casual trading and that it is an offence to trade without a valid one. Cork City Council says the same.

Galway City Council says you must apply to the local authority if you are a casual trader and want to sell goods in a public place or designated trading area. Separately, the HSE says that by law you must notify it before you start operating a food business.

How do I register a coffee van with the HSE?

You notify the HSE online through the National Environmental Health Service before you start trading. The HSE says the form asks for the premises type, and gives a building, a stall or a vehicle as examples. You then receive an Acknowledgement of Notification of Food Business Establishment letter.

The FSAI's Guidance Note No. 16 (Revision 2, 2016) uses the term food stall for moveable and temporary premises, including food vans and mobile sales vehicles. It says the operator must notify the local HSE environmental health office of each food stall, with two exceptions: an extension of an existing food business's activities right beside its premises, and a once-off event on one day, which the FSAI says will need to be notified if it becomes regular or recurring. It then says that once the HSE has been notified, the operator can operate from that stall at any location around the country, and should have confirmation of the registration available when trading.

Read that sentence for what it covers. It is about food registration only. It does not give you the right to park and sell on any street. That is the council's decision, covered below.

How much does a casual trading licence cost?

It depends on the council and on whether you want a regular pitch or an event day. These are the published figures, read on 10 October 2026.

• Cork City Council lists annual designated area fees of €600 for Cornmarket Street/Kyle Street and Blackrock, €1,600 for Harley Street, Clogheenmilcon Walkway, Harty's Quay and Murphy's Farm, and €2,800 for Ballincollig Regional Park, Douglas Park and Fitzgerald's Park. A power option is available at an additional €290 annually or €72.50 quarterly. For special events it lists €50 a day for out of hand trading, €145 a day for a stall holder, including small vehicles such as coffee trailers, and €220 a day for hot food vehicle traders such as fast food vans and ice cream vans. A coffee van could fall under either of the last two lines, so ask Cork which one applies to yours.
• Galway City Council lists €250 per trading bay for the Eyre Square North Market (Monday to Saturday) and €65 per linear metre for a Saturday licence at St. Nicholas's Market. Those are not daily fees: Galway says the Eyre Square and St. Nicholas's licences "are issued on an annual basis and are valid from the 1st January to the 31st December". For special events it lists a fee of €100 per day or part thereof.
• Dublin City Council does not print the amounts on its licence page. It points to its Casual Trading (Fees) Bye-Laws, which it says set out how much a licence will cost. Read those for the current figure.

Dublin also lists the kinds of licence: designated area, event, and Temple Bar Market. Its event licence is valid only for the day or days of the event, and applications and payments for event licences must be received by 4.30pm, 10 working days before the event. Galway says applications for casual trading licences are advertised annually in September, with a closing date in October. Galway's page showed the 2027 licences for Eyre Square and St. Nicholas's Market as open until 1 October 2026, so that round has closed. Galway also asks applicants for a current tax clearance certificate from Revenue.

Can I park a coffee van anywhere?

No. Cork City Council says that in its designated trading areas, trading is in designated trading bays only, with no short term or pop up licences; it issues special event licences separately. Cork also says it operates a waiting list for all pitches. Dublin City Council says that if you are unlicensed and want a pitch, you submit an expression of interest form to be placed on the waiting list.

Councils differ from each other. An undated slide deck on food trucks, hosted by the Offaly Local Enterprise Office, says that if you want a food truck "which operates on a public and truly mobile basis", the local council office is your first port of call, and that each council appears to differ. Ask the council for the area you want, not the one where you live.

Private land is a question the council pages I read do not answer. The Act's wording is what to check: it covers a place to which the public have access as of right, as well as designated casual trading areas, and among its exclusions is selling to a person at the place where they live or carry on business. Whether your particular spot counts is for the council to say, so ask it in writing before you buy the van.

What does a coffee van need for hand washing and water?

The FSAI's Guidance Note No. 16 says an adequate supply of running hot and cold potable water must be available for hand-washing where exposed high-risk foods are handled, and for equipment and utensil washing, food preparation or beverage making. It says a wash-hand basin with running hot and cold water, or warm water, is required where there is exposed high-risk food, that the supply must be adequate for the duration of trading, and that a container of at least 20 litres is recommended. Whether anything on your menu counts as exposed high-risk food is a question for the Environmental Health Officer.

With the basin, the FSAI says soap and disposable paper towels, or other suitable hand drying facilities, must also be provided, and that small purpose-made hand-washing units are an alternative to a container. For low-risk activities it says alternative means of cleaning hands, such as detergent and antiseptic wipes, may be acceptable, depending on the circumstances, and that alcohol wipes only work on physically clean hands. In our view, it is worth asking about your water and hand washing set-up when you notify, since an Environmental Health Officer assesses the notification.

What insurance do the councils ask for?

Cork City Council requires public liability of €6.5m and Galway City Council not less than €6.5m, each with the council named as indemnified, and Dublin's page does not set out an insurance figure. Cork City Council says all traders require public liability of €6.5m, that indemnification of the council must be stated in the policy document before a licence is issued, and that employers' liability and product liability are also needed where they apply.

Galway City Council asks for evidence of public liability cover of not less than €6.5m in respect of any one accident, with a specific indemnity to Galway City Council. It also asks for evidence of employers' liability "If you are employing any person (not less than €13m cover in respect of any one accident)", again with an indemnity to the council. For food or drink it also asks for a current and valid Certificate of Approval from the Health Service Executive as part of the application. Ask Galway whether the HSE acknowledgement letter is what it means by that certificate. Cork requires food vendors to hold certification that they are registered with the HSE, and says they must comply with the requirements of the local HSE Environmental Health Office.

Where to start

A sensible order: ask the council about a pitch or the events you want, notify the HSE, then buy insurance with the council's indemnity wording. Galway asks for the HSE certificate as part of the application and Cork requires food vendors to hold HSE registration certification, so have it before you apply. The fuller licence checklist for cafés and carts covers music licences and the other permissions that depend on how you trade.

Sources

• Casual Trading Act 1995, section 2, read 10 October 2026.
• Dublin City Council, Casual and Event Trading Licences, read 10 October 2026.
• Cork City Council, Casual Trading Licences, read 10 October 2026.
• Galway City Council, Casual Trading Licence, read 10 October 2026.
• HSE, Notify the HSE about starting a food business, read 10 October 2026.
• Food Safety Authority of Ireland, Guidance Note No. 16, Food Stalls (Revision 2), 2016, read 10 October 2026.
• Slide deck hosted by Local Enterprise Office Offaly, The Business of Food Trucks, undated, read 10 October 2026.

This is a summary of public guidance, not legal advice. Fees and rules change; the council and the HSE have the final word. Cupán Studio builds websites for cafés in Ireland.