Do you need a licence to sell coffee in Ireland?

There is no single licence to sell coffee in Ireland. What every café, kiosk and coffee cart must do is register as a food business by notifying the HSE before it starts trading, then run a food safety system with trained staff and written allergen information. Three more depend on how you trade: a Street Furniture Licence for tables on the footpath, a Casual Trading Licence to sell from a cart or stall on a public road or at an event, and IMRO and PPI licences if music plays in public.

Do I have to register a café or coffee cart with the HSE?

Yes. The HSE says that by law you must notify it before you start operating a food business, and that this includes businesses run from home. The notification is made online through the National Environmental Health Service. It asks for whether you are a company or a sole trader, the business name and contact details, the type of premises (a building, a stall or a vehicle), your start date, and any other food businesses you run in the State.

An Environmental Health Officer assesses it, your business goes on the food business register with a reference number, and you get an Acknowledgement of Notification letter. Trading without notifying is an offence under Regulation 6 of the EC (Hygiene of Foodstuffs) Regulations, and the HSE can take enforcement action.

A coffee business serving drinks and bought-in pastries registers with the HSE. Businesses handling meat, fish or other food of animal origin at the processing end may register with the Department of Agriculture or the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority instead, and some need approval rather than registration. The FSAI's advice is to contact the registering body early, because it will tell you whether your premises and operations meet food hygiene law.

Do I need food safety training to run a coffee shop?

You need trained staff, but not necessarily a course. The FSAI's rule is that food handlers must be supervised and instructed or trained in food hygiene to match what they actually do, and whoever is responsible for the business's HACCP system must be trained in applying HACCP principles.

The FSAI says plainly that you do not have to attend a food safety course to meet this. You can train staff yourself against its Guide to Food Safety Skills (level 1 for the first month, level 2 for three to twelve months in, level 3 for managers), use its free online modules, or hire a trainer. It does not run hygiene or HACCP courses itself.

What do I need to put tables and chairs outside?

A Street Furniture Licence from your local council, and only businesses that sell food can get one. In Dublin City Council's area the process is an on-site meeting, a notice in a newspaper and on the site, then an application with a non-refundable €100 fee. The full fee is then worked out from the size of the area and the number of tables and chairs.

The conditions are specific: the seating area must be enclosed by screens of a design the council approves, the licence lasts twelve months and renewal is not automatic, a copy must be displayed at the entrance, and you must hold public liability insurance of at least €6.5 million that indemnifies the council. A sandwich board is a separate Advertising Board Licence.

Do I need a licence to sell coffee from a van, cart or stall?

On a public road, at a casual trading area or at an event, yes: a Casual Trading Licence under the Casual Trading Act 1995. Dublin City Council's own page says it is an offence to trade without one. It issues three kinds: a designated-area licence for an approved street or pitch, an event licence valid only for the days of a market or festival, and a Temple Bar Market licence. The fees are set in each council's casual trading fee bye-laws, so check the council you will trade in, not the one you live in.

The council's definition is selling on the public road or at a place where the public has a right of access. If your cart will stand on private ground, such as a business park forecourt, ask the council's casual trading section before assuming the Act does not reach you. The HSE notification applies either way, with "vehicle" or "stall" as the premises type.

Do I need a music licence for my café?

If music plays where customers can hear it, almost always two. PPI Ireland says you need its licence whenever recorded music is played in public, which includes a radio, a TV or a phone through a speaker, and it lists cafés by name. IMRO, a separate organisation, licenses the songwriters' and publishers' side, and PPI says that in most cases both licences are needed. IMRO lists a tariff for restaurants and cafés.

What about the coffee itself?

Making and selling coffee drinks has no licence of its own beyond the food business registration. The part of food law that reaches the counter every day is allergens: milk is one of the fourteen the law lists, and it is in most of a coffee menu. The allergen rules for a café menu are their own article.

A checklist before you open

1. Notify the HSE online, with your start date and the premises type.
2. Write down your food safety system (HACCP-based) and train the person running it.
3. Train staff to the level of what they do; keep a record.
4. Put written allergen information on the menu or in one visible place.
5. Tables outside: start the Street Furniture Licence early; the newspaper notice adds time.
6. A cart or stall: get the Casual Trading Licence from the council where you will trade.
7. Music: apply to both IMRO and PPI.

Once you are open, the next thing people search for is how to find you. Getting the café onto Google Maps is free; Google says its review takes up to five business days.

Sources

• HSE, Notify the HSE about starting a food business, read 3 October 2026.
• Food Safety Authority of Ireland, Register and Training: first steps, read 3 October 2026.
• Dublin City Council, Apply for a Street Furniture Licence and Casual and Event Trading Licences, read 3 October 2026.
• PPI Ireland, Do I need a PPI licence?; IMRO, Music licences by business, read 3 October 2026.

This is a summary of public guidance, not legal advice. Fees and forms change; the council and the HSE have the final word. Cupán Studio builds websites for Dublin cafés, which is why we keep track of what owners need when they open.