asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if electrical household apparatus must comply with any standards of efficiency and safety; and, if not, if he will take steps to prescribe such standards.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Safety Standards for Electrical Apparatus.
29.
Under the Industrial Research and Standards Act, 1961, standards of both efficiency and safety may be declared by the Institute for Industrial Research and Standards, but standards of safety can only be made compulsory by order made by me. At my request, the institute has for some time been working on the preparation of safety standards suitable for compulsory application to all electrical goods used in the home or workshop. Preparation of these standards has proved unexpectedly complicated, involving, inter alia, the wiring practices of the building industry, but they are being pressed ahead with. I have already made one standard, the colour-coding of 3-core leads for domestic electrical appliances, compulsory as from 1st July last, and I intend to make other safety standards compulsory as fast as they are produced by the institute.
Would the Minister agree that while the Institute for Industrial Research and Standards will carry out tests, they have neither teeth nor power to impose any conditions as a result of those tests?
I agree. I have the teeth and I have the power.
Will the Minister agree he has made no such order and that electrical appliances which have been rejected in the country of origin have been dumped on the Irish market and sold? Furthermore, has the Minister heard it stated in a recent radio interview that in most cases of fire where the result has been "origin unknown" it can be safely agreed that the majority of those fires are due to the use of defective electrical appliances? Will he also agree that there is a very alarming difference percentagewise between the number of fatal accidents in Ireland due to the use of defective electrical appliances and the number in Great Britain? Will he take steps to remedy this?
I became bogged down half way through the Deputy's speech by way of supplementary.
The Institute for Industrial Research and Standards have no power.
We cannot debate this all evening.
As I stated in my reply——
I am satisfied with that, but is it not fact that goods which have been rejected in the country of manufacture have been coming in here and been sold freely on the Irish market?
I have no knowledge of that but, if the Deputy has such information, I shall be only too glad to hear it.
Has the Minister any idea of the number of fatal accidents due to the failure of electrical appliances?
That is a separate question.
That would be speculative.