Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for introducing the Bill, which I welcome wholeheartedly. I also thank him for the work he has done on the legislation.

The legislation is directed at people using sunbeds who are under 18 years of age, but I worry about people who are over that age. I also worry about people around 18 years of age who work in sunbed salons but do not understand how dangerous sunbeds are. When a constituent of mine went to use a sunbed, the lady in attendance switched on the machine but just told him to get on to the sunbed. She gave him no directions whatsoever. He put the cleaning agent provided for the sunbed on his skin, believe it or not, and got very badly burned. As a result he could not work or anything else. Directions are given such as "Do not use a sunbed if you have had skin cancer in the past." Unfortunately, what a person goes into any of these salons, he or she just signs a document without reading it, and I worry that such practices will continue.

I know other members are worried about skin colour, and I have read the submission. I too would like the Minister to look at the matter before we commence Report Stage. I understand that there may be legal problems around this, but it has been legislated for in other countries. Why can we not legislate for it here?

I want the Minister to address the use of sunbeds by those over 18, maybe 19- to 21-year olds, because they are still young and they may not realise the dangers of sunbeds and that one can get badly burned. We advised the constituent I mentioned earlier to go to a solicitor to see if he could pursue the matter legally. That is the point I would like to make for older people.