A DISTRIBUTOR is refusing to recall 3,500 “very dangerous” toy guns it has sold because of the effect this would have on its business, the Circuit Court heard yesterday.
Emily Egan, for the Environmental Protection Agency, told the Circuit Civil Court the €2 toy guns were “a very serious danger to public health”.
The court has heard that tests have shown that the innocent-looking foam gun, which creates only light and sound, contains a dangerous level of lead in the trigger and trigger-guard area.
Ms Egan said the toy was distributed by Euro General Retail Ltd, Unit 30, Robinhood Industrial Estate, Clondalkin, Dublin, which has 50 “€2 shops” nationally.
She told Judge Matthew Deery that the Environmental Protection Agency had directed the company to withdraw the Hong Kong-made toy from sale and recall the 3,500 that had been sold over the last year.
Ms Egan said Euro General had taken the toy off the shelves of its 50 outlets but had refused to recall the 3,500 it had sold and now wanted to appeal the agency’s direction.
The direction to recall the gun had included an order for the placing of half-page advertisements in three national newspapers on three consecutive days informing end-users of the danger and recalling the product.
Charlie O’Loughlin, Euro General director, has claimed that to place such advertisements would have a hugely detrimental effect on the company’s business.
Ms Egan said Euro General now wanted its November 2nd appeal adjourned to allow the company to have its own tests carried out on the gun, which had been bought in a €2 store in William Street, Limerick, last March.
Judge Deery said it was not overly onerous to insist on the company’s tests being carried out before November 2nd next.
In a separate High Court application yesterday, Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill allowed the agency to apply next Wednesday for a High Court injunction directing enforcement of its direction.