asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether regulations banning the sale of celluloid toys and prescribing limits for the amount of lead and other toxic substances which may be present in paint used on toys are in force in this country; and, if so, what the limit for lead content is.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Safety Standards for Toys.
17.
There is a standard specification in relation to safety requirements for children's toys. This standard provides, inter alia, that toys shall not be made from celluloid or be treated with paints containing lead or other toxic substances. The standard in its present form is not considered suitable for compulsory application and the question of devising a standard which would be suitable for legal enforcement has been under consideration by the Institute for Industrial Research and Standards for some time past.
Having it considered for some time past does not go far enough. Does the Minister now say that he is providing a specification which might with propriety be used in the making of such articles?
I requested the Institute for Industrial Research and Standards in October, 1966, to provide a standard which could be made compulsory but there are a number of technical difficulties involved which they have not yet resolved but which I think should be resolved in time.
Is it not scientists like this who spend their time talking about the dilatory conduct of the bureaucrats? Would the Minister remind them that it is not the bureaucrats who are holding this up?