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Non-surgical procedures also appeal to more people, as they require only a local anaesthetic or none at all, lowering risk and making recovery quick.

In the UK, the cosmetic medicine sector is worth £539m (about €800m), with Mintel predicting the figure will reach almost £1 billion by 2009.

Non-surgical treatments make up 85% of that market and there is every indication the Irish market will follow suit.

“There is hugely increased take-up in the non-surgical market in Ireland,” said Colin Jeken of the Harley Medical Group. “Six months to a year ago, non-surgical work acc-ounted for 20% of our business. Now it accounts for 40%.”

Pauline Cullen, who runs the Beacon Dermatology clinic in Sandyford, says it is inevitable Irish women will follow the example of women in Europe and America, where many have a cosmetic dermatologist.

“The existing market here is quite small, although it is growing incredibly quickly,” she said. “It’s not like other markets. You can’t break it down by age or profession. A woman on €25,000 is as interested as a woman on more than €100,000, and women on lower incomes will save up and get a loan for these services.”

Men also want the body beautiful and make up 5% to 10% of cosmetic customers in Ireland.

Those selling cosmetic procedures are also benefitting from the rising obesity rate. “People are getting fatter,” said Treacy, “so the market is driven by things like liposuction and new products that break down fat with ultrasound or lasers.”

Despite the skyrocketing growth of the cosmetic sector, profits are not quite following suit yet. Accounts filed recently for ACS showed it made a €200,000 profit last year, bringing its retained losses to €1.9m. The Harley Medical Group had an operating profit for the year ended June 2005 of €236,960 on a turnover of just over €2m.

All of the market leaders are engaged in aggressive expansion, however. ACS has two clinics in Dublin and one each in Cork, Galway and Belfast, and is about to open a third in Dublin. The Harley Medical Group plans to open more clinics in Ireland. The Ailesbury Clinic has just opened new clinics in Cork and Dubai. ()

International companies are also circling the market. One of the market-leading UK companies, Court House Clinics, which is headed by Dr Patrick Bowler, the chairman of the British Association of Cosmetic Doctors, opened a clinic in Dublin in April.

A number of other UK clinics are also thought to be targeting Dublin, as is a leading Scandinavian cosmetic surgery group.