merrion street

Energy Minister Pat Rabbitte today welcomed the publication of a new fast-tracked

Irish Standard for Carbon Monoxide alarms.

This Standard is the result of urgent work over the past year by a number of gas industry experts under the auspices of the Gas Technical Standards Committee of the National Standards Authority of Ireland.

"This is very good news", said Minister Rabbitte. "It means that, in future, people will be able to buy these alarms in the confidence that they will work properly, provided the alarms purchased comply with this new standard and have been properly installed.

Like my predecessor, I have been affected by the tragedy visited upon families every year by deaths due to carbon monoxide poisoning. I understand that, until recently, the alarms sold here were not all of acceptable quality. This meant they could not all be relied on to function as they should to warn people of gas accumulation. One of the reasons for that was a deficiency in the relevant European Standard.

I am very pleased that we in Ireland did not wait for the European Standard to be revised (a process which could take years) but instead we acted unilaterally by using a "fast-track" procedure to issue a

Irish Standard which will "plug the gap" until such time as there is a European Standard "fit for purpose. I commend this responsible attitude and the work done by the Gas Technical Standards Committee, and I am proud that Ireland is showing leadership in this area."

"Taken together with sensible precautions when installing or using fossil fuel burning appliances, this development should ensure greater protection for people from the effects of carbon monoxide" Minister Rabbitte added.