Vol. 232 No. 14
asked the Minister for Health if he will ensure that all chemical liquid preparations for agricultural, horticultural and household use in stores other than regular pharmacies must be sold in sealed containers as delivered and labelled by the manufacturers.
17.
asked the Minister for Health if he will ensure that all chemical preparations for medical, para-medical, agricultural, horticultural, industrial and domestic use must be accompanied at ultimate sale by a leaflet giving a chemical analysis of the contents and, if appropriate, a warning.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 and 17 together.
I presume that the Deputy is referring to preparations which could be regarded as poisonous.
In so far as a limited number of poisonous substances is concerned, provision is made in existing law that the sale of such substances by licensed sellers must be made in containers which the manufacturer supplies and with labels indicating the name of the substance, the name and address of the seller, the word "poison" and the purpose for which it has been prepared, and with the additional provision that liquid preparations must be sold in bottles or tins. I appreciate the necessity to extend the scope of these controls and provision exists in section 14 of the Poisons Act, 1961 under which the Minister for Health may make regulations controlling the sale, labelling, etc. of all substances which he declares to be poisons. Comhairle na Nimheanna, the Council set up under this Act, have studied the whole question of poisons control and have submitted recommendations to me which, in effect, form the basis of a comprehensive code for controlling the distribution of those substances.
Regulations based on these recommendations are being drafted at present.
