Vol. 395 No. 8
8 Mr. S. Barrett asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce the plans, if any, he has for the implementation of the EC Product Liability Directive; and if he will outline the proposals which are in place to prepare Irish industry for same.
I hope to be in a position to introduce in the current session, legislation, which is at present being prepared in the office of the Attorney General, to give effect to this directive.
I am satisfied that industry here is well aware of the contents of the directive. Over the past 18 months or so the National Standards Authority of Ireland have been holding seminars at various locations throughout the country to publicise the directive's requirements and to assist industry plan for the introduction of appropriate control systems.
Will the Minister outline what sort of assistance his Department can give in the implementation of this directive? Does he agree that this directive could have wide-ranging effects on Irish industry and there should be great co-operation between industry, in particular the insurance industry, to cover the liabilities which will arise as a result of the implementation of the directive?
A large number of Irish firms are already operating under the terms of the directive as it has been implemented in most, but not all, of the member states. For instance, I think it has been implemented for the last year in Britain. Therefore, all exporting firms have, in practice, to comply with the terms of the directives. I do not think they are having any undue difficulty in this regard.
Since October 1988 the National Standards Authority of Ireland have, with the participation of the Department of Industry and Commerce, organised seminars on the directive and the role of quality assistance at Galway, Cork, Longford and Dublin. The next such seminar will be held in Limerick on Monday next, 19 February.
