Companies call for regulation of sunbeds

Ottoline Spearman

Sunbed companies are calling on the Government to regulate the strength of sunbeds.

Sunbeds use high-intensity UV rays, which damage skin cells and can lead to cancer, and have long been considered dangerous.

Junior Minister for Public Health Jennifer Murnane O’Connor is considering banning commercial sunbeds for this reason, and launched a nationwide public consultation on the matter in July.

The public consultation closed on October 3rd.

Speaking on Newstalk, Gary Lipman, Chair of The Sunbed Association, said there are other ways to regulate the industry:

"A very important regulation that we've been lobbying the government to implement is the output of a sunbed.

"This is regulated across Europe, and it states that the output of a sunbed is the same, for example, as sunshine on a Mediterranean beach.

"And we've asked the government to implement that. In fact, we advised them back in 2015."