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ANYONE UNDER 18 will be banned from using sunbeds in Ireland from Monday onwards, as new legislation governing the use of the tanning units comes into effect.
Minister for Health Leo Varadkar today described the ban as “an essential step to protect children’s health and well-being and an important preventative measure in terms of skin cancer.”
Under the Public Health (Sunbeds) Act 2014, it is an offence to sell or hire a sunbed to anyone under 18 or to allow them use one on a “sunbed premises”. Sunbed operators will also have to provide clients with written details on the risks and dangers of sunbed use.
The Department of Health categorises a sunbed as any tanning unit used to tan the skin using UV radiation.
“Skin cancer is the fastest growing cancer in Ireland,” Varadkar said ahead of Monday’s ban. He added:
More than 850 new cases of melanoma are reported in Ireland each year, with 150 Irish people dying annually. This ban won’t solve the skin cancer problem on its own, but we can achieve our goal if we work together and raise awareness.
Recent figures from the National Cancer Registry of Ireland showed an 81% increase in skin cancer cases between 1994 (when records began). Over 10,000 new cases were diagnosed in 2011 – a figure the NCRI expects to double by 2040.
The Irish Cancer Society has welcomed the ban, saying that the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer places sunbeds in its highest cancer risk category. Kathleen O’Meara of the Irish Cancer Society explains that this means “sunbed use is as carcinogenic as tobacco or plutonium.”
Using a sunbed for the first time before the age of 30 raises your risk of getting melanoma by 75%, according to the Society.
National Cancer Control Programme Director Dr Susan O’Reilly welcomed the ban, but also urged adults to consider the risks associated with sunbeds:
Melanoma is the most serious form of skin cancer in Ireland and the numbers of new cases are increasing every year. People with moles should check them regularly and see their GP if they notice any changes, such as, increasing size, changing colour or irregular edges.
The Health Minister thanked his predecessor James Reilly for his work on the ban and said the Department of Health had been supported on the issue by stakeholders including the Irish Cancer Society and the Marie Keating Foundation.
The ban will be enforced by environmental health officers from the HSE.
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Any parent that would bring their child to a tanning bed needs their head examined.
I dont think its the case of parents bringing children in, its the groups of perma tanned teens (boys and girls!) you see using tanning salons. Its just crazy to start damaging young healthy skin so early and for something you can go buy in a bottle!
That’s definitely the case for the older teens but highly doubt the children who get it done for communion/confirmation arrive without parental supervision.
There’ll be very pale kids at holy communion next year…
Fair enough
I remember passing by a charterbusters few years ago and seeing a woman getting escorted from the premise,She was screaming hysterically at the staff calling them all the expletives you can imagine for not letting her child use the tanning equipment.The kid looked about 6.
Some kids haven’t got a chance if that’s the level of parenting there exposed to.What does it teach a child? Scream and act like a banshee until you get what you want?
Some people think they can just abuse staff in any shop and its OK.It’s totally pathetic and from what I hear has become more widespread.Some classless people out there.
Should have never been aloud in the first place.
It hurts my ears
I do not think that they make a lot of noise.
Allowed. Seriously ???
Nadine was my favorite in Girls Allowed
I’m browned off now.
Anyone who sunbakes either under the sun or in a sunbed in 2014 is a complete moron.
I completely agree with that, BUT I went on sunbeds at 16 for a while and it did wonders for my eczema at the time.
Also clears psoriasis,but completely agree no need for kids to be using them…
So I got a ton of red thumbs for sharing a personal, positive experience about sunbeds, yet not a single comment explaining why?! Ye’re great lads!
My eczema clears up with sun exposure and gets really bad in winter. No way I’d be putting a young child on them, but for skin conditions that can reap real benefits, I think 15+ with parental consent would be fair enough.
Down with that sort of thing
Careful now.
I agree with the skin condition part but no need for kids under 18 to be using them..p.s I didn’t red thumb ya
Lol! I figured. Amazes me what gets red thumbed on this site though!
Wonder if it will be enforced. Plenty of kips around the country offering these services will keep taking kids in if they can get away with it
It’s won’t matter Hugo , they be can hired for your home aswell
It’s not really fair. Children should have the opportunity to win a Darwin award just like any adult
Huh?
Huh?
What do you mean?
Darwin awards are given to people who remove themselves from the gene pool via acts of extreme stupidity.
Oh yeah, duh! Thanks!!
It’s ok Mary. You learn something new everyday.
Reminds me of the start of the Alan partridge film.
They are progressively being phased out in australia as they have been proven to be dangerous and possibly a cause of skin cancer
When I was a child you were well off if you had a tanner.
If I was a Tanner Id have a big farm and vote FG
We will not stand for this blatant disregard of our cultural rights .
we must and we will have tans
I welcome the ban, but it’s a bit much to be comparing it to plutonium.
This goes against our culture we wont stand for it
WTF, Lets ban kids going to the Costas on Summer Hols. Prohibition is all our politicans are goof for. Lets ban Brazilians in case of an ingrown hair.
I used a tanning bed at 15 for six months. Not for a tan but in a desperate ‘cure’ for my psoriasis. I had spent years being told that my all body psoriasis was not severe enough for intense treatment. So I did it and it worked. However, I stopped as I was afraid of the repercussions. It would be 8 more years before I was given UV light treatment. I know most people don’t use it for that but if it could be an option to people like me, it would be easier.
Agreed, I used it at 16 for my eczema and it worked great. I said in earlier comment maybe 15+ with parental consent for skin conditions, like psoriasis or eczema, but maybe it’s something that doctors should be looking at too? I was only doing 15 min sessions (once a week for 12 weeks) at that age and my skin cleared up great.
That’s what I was thinking. However the lack if supervision I had was insane. After 2 months of being a ‘regular’, I would arrive in and be told which bed was free and that was it. I made the decision as to how long or if I wore the goggles.
That’s kinda what I mean by doctors looking into it. If it was regulated for minor skin conditions from mid-teens, when you’re very self-conscious anyway. All I needed was 12 15 min sessions at the time, as the comment above me said; they needed 6 months and it was a pre-cursor to UV light treatment.
I agree with banning it for children, but there are some ways that it may be beneficial if regulated properly at an appropriate age.
Oh sorry, that was you too!!
Lil Cinta will be bleedin ragin
I know that families rent the bed itself for the weekend. It gets delivered to the home.. Tin box for money to cover ESB… Anyone can use it then.. Children in the locality :/
This goes against our culture we won’t stand for it
Warra my 2 nippers Braxton and Claxton gonna do now?
I seen kids with tans they didn’t get in the Irish weather at the communions this year. Them parents want to get their heads examined. They should learn to say no. All I wanted for my communion was a new pare of slacks, a tan wouldn’t have crossed my mind.
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