Severe penalties for under-18 sunbed use

Sunbed parlours which allow under 18-year-olds to use their machines face substantial penalties under legislation being drafted for the Department of Health.

The much-delayed legislation to ban the use of sunbeds by under-18s is nearing completion but must be notified to the European Commission before it is introduced. This will take at least three months, Minister for Health James Reilly has told the Dáil.

It is estimated that 20 per cent of the 140,000 sunbed users in Ireland are aged between 15 and 24, with anecdotal evidence that they are used for children as young as seven who are making their First Communion.

Premature ageing
Dr Reilly said the Bill, as well

as banning the use of sunbeds by young people, would set out a comprehensive range of measures to promote greater public awareness across all age groups of the dangers of developing skin cancer, premature ageing and eye damage from exposure to ultraviolet radiation.

The legislation will prohibit the sale or hire of sunbeds to under-18s and ban the unsupervised use of sunbeds. Controls on the remote sale or hire of a sunbed using the internet is also envisaged, and sunbed operators will have to notify the HSE of their activity. An exemption for medical purposes will apply.

Operators will be required to provide training for staff, as well as providing protective eyewear for users. Other provisions include requirements for warning signs on the dangers of sunbed use, a ban on some promotional practices and a requirement for operators to ensure that users are made fully aware of the potential dangers involved. Sunbed users will have to sign to confirm that they have been made aware of these dangers.

Dr Reilly told Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins that he accepted the need for the use of sunbeds to be restricted, especially for children, because of the increased risk of skin cancer and other health problems.

Previous minister for health Mary Harney promised a ban but it never materialised. The Cabinet approved the drafting of legislation last year. Northern Ireland introduced a ban on sunbed use by under-18s last year.

A study in France and Italy published last month found that sunbeds account for about 5.4 per cent of all cases of malignant melanoma, the worst kind of skin cancer, every year.

There are 8,000 cases of skin cancer in Ireland every year, and the number is rising.