As the European Convention on Products Liability in regard to Personal Injury and Death has not been ratified by any member state of the Council of Europe, it has not yet come into force. The Convention provides that it shall only come into force when it has been ratified by three member states of the Council.
With regard to the question of Ireland's ratification, the position is that when the Convention was opened for signature on 27 January 1977 discussions had already begun on a draft EC Directive on liability for defective products. Because of this the question of Ireland's ratifying the Convention was left in abeyance.
The EC Directive on Liability for Defective Products was adopted in July 1985. I have already indicated, in reply to Question No. 8 on 15 February 1990 that I hope to be in a position to introduce in the current session legislation to give effect to the directive. This will introduce in Ireland a regime of strict liability which was also the objective of the Convention. In these circumstances, I do not now propose to pursue the question of ratification.