Vol. 395 No. 8
33 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce the reason electric underblankets without a safeguard protection against overheat are still available for sale in Ireland even though these blankets are banned in the United Kingdom; and if he will issue an order to have such blankets banned in Ireland.
Safety of electrical equipment is governed in Ireland, as it is in other EC member states, by the EC Directive on low voltage electrical equipment. This directive provides that electrical equipment should not pose a safety risk when used for the purposes intended. The onus of responsibility for ensuring the safety of electrical equipment placed on the market rests with the trader. My inspectors nevertheless carry out spot checks on a range of electrical products to ensure compliance with the directive. Electric underblankets could not be prohibited solely on the basis of not having an overheat protection device fitted. It would need to be established under test conditions that the absence of such a device from a specific model rendered that model unsafe.
If the Deputy is concerned about a specific model or models he is welcome to pass the details to me and I will have the matter examined. I regret that the Deputy was unwilling to provide such detail when requested to do so by my Department four weeks ago.
