1.—(1) In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires—

F1[“the Council Directive” means Council Directive No. 85/374/EEC of 25 July 1985⁽¹⁾ (as amended by Directive No. 1999/34/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 May 1999⁽²⁾) the texts of which in the English language are set out for convenience of reference in the Schedule to this Act;]

“damage” means—

(a) death or personal injury, or

(b) loss of, damage to, or destruction of, any item of property other than the defective product itself:

Provided that the item of property—

(i) is of a type ordinarily intended for private use or consumption, and

(ii) was used by the injured person mainly for his own private use or consumption;

“initial processing” means, in relation to primary agricultural products, any processing of an industrial nature of those products which could cause a defect therein;

“injured person” means a person who has suffered damage caused wholly or partly by a defect in a product or, if he has died, his personal representative (within the meaning of section 3 of the Succession Act, 1965) or dependants (within the meaning of section 47 (1) of the Civil Liability Act, 1961);

“Member State” means a Member State of the European Communities;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Industry and Commerce;

“personal injury” includes any disease and any impairment of a person's physical or mental condition;

“primary agricultural products” means the products of the soil, of stock-farming and of fisheries and game, excluding such products and game which have undergone initial processing;

“producer” shall be construed in accordance with section 2 of this Act;

F1[“product” means all movables, including primary agricultural products which have not undergone initial processing, and includes—

(a) movables even though incorporated into another product or into an immovable, whether by virtue of being a component part or raw material or otherwise, and

(b) electricity where damage is caused as a result of a failure in the process of generation of electricty,]

(2) A word or expression that is used in this Act and is also used in the Council Directive has, unless the contrary intention appears, the meaning in this Act that it has in the Council Directive.

(3) In construing a provision of this Act, a court shall give it a construction that will give effect to the Council Directive, and for this purpose a court shall have regard to the provisions of the Council Directive, including its preamble.

(4) In this Act a reference to any other enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended by or under any other enactment, including this Act.