Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 14 October 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters

From Accessibility to Universal Design: Discussion

Photo of Pauline TullyPauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I confirm I am in Leinster House. I welcome all the witnesses here today and thank them for sharing their experiences with us. I congratulate Ms Smith and Changing Places Ireland on the work done to raise awareness of this issue. During Covid, when many public toilets were closed, we all experienced a bit of what Ms Smith experiences daily. Anytime we went out, even to do the shopping, we had to plan to make sure we would not be caught short. We got a bit of an understanding of what Ms Smith goes through. I congratulate her on her work. From reading some of the information she provided to us, it is outrageous that people have to be changed on the floor of a toilet. No one would want to imagine lying on the floor, in even the cleanest public toilet, for any reason. It is essential that all public buildings, going forward, include changing places toilets as mandatory.

Following on from Deputy Higgins's question, Mr. Cunningham said he was unsure as to the need for wheelchair accessible homes. Coming at this matter from the other angle, what is the supply of wheelchair accessible homes in both the private market, to rent and buy, and the local authorities? Do we know how many people are in need of these? Considering the number of people under the age of 65 years in nursing homes and living in congregated settings, when it is proposed to move them into community housing - many of them will need wheelchair accessible homes. Will it be possible to meet that need?

Do developers and architects understand the ethos of universal design? Is there national consistency in the implementation of accessible housing? Alternatively, does the interpretation exist that only the minimum needs to be done? If this is the case, is that due to a lack of understanding, for financial reasons or otherwise? That question is directed to the IWA, or Ms Egan can answer it as well.

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