An expert working group established by the government recommended an all-out ban in a 70-page report published last month.

This report, along with two others, are currently being considered by the government alongside legal, economic and EU considerations.

The Sunbed Association, the representative body for the professional tanning industry across Ireland, has accused the government of a lack of transparency around its plans and failing to meet with salon owners.

In a press statement, the industry body said the government’s “apparent predetermination raises serious questions of proportionality, procedural fairness and compliance with EU and national law, and risks turning what should be an open, evidence‑based policy process into a box‑ticking exercise”.

Joe McGlinchey, vice-chair of the Sunbed Association, said: “We are not defending unsafe tanning, we are defending proper enforcement of the stringent public health laws that already exist.

“Instead of fixing obvious enforcement failures, the government wants a blanket ban on commercial sunbeds that will shut down responsible, regulated family‑run salons while pushing tanning into unregulated back rooms and private homes.

“Many of our members are family-run salons, small businesses that are providing local jobs. They are being treated as collateral damage in a policy that ignores the difference between regulated operators and rogue, unlicensed activity.

“Shutting down compliant businesses while leaving enforcement gaps unaddressed will not reduce demand for tanning, it will simply move that demand to unregulated settings where there is no oversight and no protection for users.”

He added: “The government has deliberately chosen to ignore the legitimate concerns and constructive perspectives of regulated, law-abiding salon owners who have fully complied with every HSE rule and guideline and have done absolutely nothing wrong.

“The refusal to meet our salon owners by [public health minister] Murnane O’Connor is grossly unfair and is a blatant and disingenuous dismissal by the minister and her officials.

“What we will not accept is being shut out of the process while a decision to ban our industry is quietly made behind closed doors.”