Mr. John Dunne:

It is frustrating for retailers here that there is no easy way to tell whether a product is registered in Ireland. For instance, in UK retailers can check the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, MRHA, website and insert an European Community identification, EC-ID, number, which is the specific code for each product or they can check a product by manufacturer, brand name etc. and it will indicate if the product is approved. Unfortunately, retailers in this State do not have such a database but generally they will check that database because most manufacturers will put their products on all the databases for Ireland in the EU as well in the UK. If it is listed on that database, it should be okay in six months' time to be put on the market in Ireland. I would recommend that the Government consider establishing a database here where retailers and consumers could check if the products they are buying are registered.