Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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52. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the other products that may be subject to a recall that may have implications for public health [33525/20]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Biocidal products, including hand sanitisers, may only be marketed and used in Ireland once they are registered with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and are entered on the Biocidal Product Register" in accordance with Regulation 20 of Statutory Instrument 427 of 2013.

The hand sanitiser Virapro was approved by our Biocides Unit and registered in April 2020 on the basis of the documentary application, including a technical specification that it contained 70% ethanol which is a common standard for hand sanitiser products and fully complies with regulations.

Testing of some consignments of that particular product however, demonstrated that the composition of the registered product was not consistent with the approved specification, and therefore there were concerns around efficacy and public health.  The company was instructed to initiate a full recall of all product from the market.

Separately, in the course of examination of this matter, it emerged that some products on the market had not been properly registered, or that the labels did contain the appropriate registration number.

There is no evidence that products in this category are unsafe, but suppliers have been directed to withdraw such products so that they can be properly registered or re-labelled. 

My Department is continuing to increase its testing of product on the market to provide reassurance in relation to compliance with approved product specifications. Test results available so far indicate no safety issues with other sanitiser products sampled.