Brian Walsh (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute briefly to the debate on this Bill. I thank the Government Whip for sharing time to facilitate my participation in this debate. This is extremely important legislation. I have no doubt it will result in lives being saved. The Minister and his officials are to be commended on the introduction of this legislation. While like Deputy Terence Flanagan I had a difference of opinion with the Minister in relation to other significant legislation, there is no such difference of opinion between us in respect of this Bill. I commend the Minister on his work not alone in this area, but in tackling the tobacco industry. I also commend the Minister of State, Deputy White, on his work in tackling the drinks industry. The legislation that will ensue from that body of work is equally as important as the legislation being discussed today.

Unfortunately, cancer is all too common in Irish society today. It is a scourge that has claimed many lives and affected so many others. In many respects, we are powerless to hinder its march. If there is anything we can do to lessen its toll, it is incumbent upon us as legislators to do so. This Bill is a step in that direction. Most skin cancer is caused by UV radiation through sun exposure and sunbed use and is, therefore, preventable. People have a choice in regard to whether to use sunbeds.

In many cases cancer is visited upon individuals without any warning or tell-tale signs. We have all had conversations on numerous occasions with friends or acquaintances in which we have heard of someone known to us who is being treated for cancer. We talk about that individual and say he was the last person we would ever expect to be treated for cancer because he lived a healthy lifestyle, did not smoke or drink, took exercise and led an active lifestyle. Such people do not have a choice and this disease is visited upon them without any warning. However, that is not the case with skin cancer. The choices we make can greatly reduce our vulnerability to this form of cancer.

All Deputies and Senators get a good deal of documentation from various bodies. I have before me one document which I received last year from the Irish Cancer Society. The statistics contained in the documentation are frightening and I will highlight some of them. The average risk of skin cancer from sunbed use is more than double that of spending the same length of time in the midday Mediterranean sun. Young people are particularly at risk when they use sunbeds. People who start using sunbeds before the age of 30 have a 75% increased risk of malignant melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer. In 2012, the Irish Cancer Society carried out a secret shopper survey. It found that seven out of seven tanning shops surveyed would let a fair-skinned child use a sunbed without any warning or advice. Sunbeds are ranked in the highest cancer risk category and are rated as being as carcinogenic as tobacco and plutonium. Skin cancer is the commonest cancer in Ireland. In 2010, almost 9,500 people were diagnosed with skin cancer. Of these, 896 were diagnosed with melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer. There were 148 deaths from skin cancer in Ireland in 2012. The incidence of melanoma rose dramatically by 130% between 1994 and 2010. These are some of the statistics the Irish Cancer Society has brought to our attention in recent months and they highlight the need for this legislation, which I welcome and enthusiastically support. I am pleased to see it is not being opposed by the Opposition.

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