Written answers

Tuesday, 25 October 2022

Photo of Alan FarrellAlan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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662. To ask the Minister for Health if his Department is engaging with the HSE for a public awareness campaign on the dangers of tanning and sun beds, especially for younger people; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53295/22]

Photo of Frank FeighanFrank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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The Department has co-funded the SunSmart communications campaign with the HSE in both 2021 and 2022. This campaign aims to raise awareness and adoption of, skin protection behaviours, focusing on target groups within the Irish population which are: general population; parents of children; young people; outdoor workers; people who participate in sports or outdoor activities; sunbed users.

The campaign which ran from April to the end of September, was rolled out across radio (both national and local), digital audio and social media. This year saw the campaign extended to other social media platforms such as TikTok and Snapchat, in an effort to reach younger audiences.

As part of this year's campaign, an art competition for primary school age children was ran for the first time. The "Get SunSmart" art competition urged children to either colour in SunSmart images or draw a picture showing how to be SunSmart, depending on their age category. The competition ran from mid-May to the end of June and received over 500 entries.

A series of opportunistic press releases were issued by the HSE in partnership with Healthy Ireland, as part of the campaign, to coincide with key dates such as bank holiday weekends, and school holidays. A press release highlighting the dangers of sunbeds was also issued in August.

The Youth Advisory Group was consulted on all social media imagery developed for the campaign. This year the campaign included messaging on the dangers of sunbeds for the first time. Development of this messaging took on board the findings of a consultation with children and young people held in October 2021, around the development of skin protection resources. Consultations were held with young people aged 12 to 18 and included young people from the travelling community.

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