Changing Places toilets
Deputy Collins called for more Changing Places toilet facilities for people with disabilities, saying access was very limited outside Dublin. The Taoiseach said local authorities should provide them, noted funding was available, and said the point was important and should be attended to.
Thousands of children and adults with disabilities are severely restricted in this country as they cannot find a toilet with proper equipment. They often have to go through the indignity of being changed on the floor of a public toilet or stay at home altogether.
Changing Places toilet facilities are urgently needed in every county in Ireland. In Northern Ireland, there are approximately 40 of these Changing Places but in the Republic there are only 12 registered Changing Places. Eight of these are in Dublin, with only one in Munster, which is in Limerick. Without Changing Places toilet facilities available throughout the country, people with disabilities are denied a basic human right. Equipment to install Changing Places costs approximately €15,000. Changing Places facilities are designed to enhance the health, safety, comfort and dignity of someone who needs extra support. I ask the Taoiseach to work with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, to grant funding to local authorities and voluntary organisations to install Changing Places in every county at an estimated cost of €550,000.
Comment on this
They do have the money. They have been given unprecedented resources. This is a national Parliament. I understand Members raising issues and I have no problem with that but that is €550,000 nationally. If that is divided among all the local authorities at €15,000 per facility, that is well within the capacity of local authorities. We have provided additional resources this year to local authorities because of Covid-19. It is an important point the Deputy has raised and it should be attended to but I would like to know Cork County Council's view on it. I do not know whether the Deputy has contacted them. We should pursue local authorities and perhaps get best exemplars.
Local authorities always have the flexibility to do things, to be innovative and provide good solutions. The Deputy makes a good point but the local authority should get on with it.
