Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for facilitating this debate. It took a pandemic, with people, in effect, spending more than a year indoors, for us to realise what is needed to enable us to enjoy the outdoors and our public spaces. The last public toilets in this city closed 21 years ago. With that closure, a crucial part of what makes the city living and accessible was lost. Many people have been campaigning for public toilets for years. Like so many things, the lack of these very basic facilities in our country is something we cannot continue to ignore as we emerge from the pandemic.

The Minister of State is aware that today Dublin City Council gave us some very welcome news by saying it would open all its buildings so people could use their public bathrooms. This is not just a matter within the cities, although it may be felt most keenly around the centre of the capital city. I know even in the Minister of State's constituency in Dún Laoghaire, whether in the People's Park or elsewhere, it is a matter causing much discomfort and problems for people.

This is not a trivial or insignificant matter. The UN special rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation wrote in 2019 that access to water and sanitation in spheres of life beyond the household, particularly in public spaces, is an essential element of human rights and that a failure of states to include access to water and sanitation in public spaces is inconsistent with the commitment to the sustainable development goals, with which the Minister of State, as a Green Party member, will be very familiar.

The lack of access to adequate toilet facilities is also a gender and accessibility matter. We can consider how this affects people who are menstruating, those who are pregnant, families with toddlers or those with disabilities who are assisted by carers. Toilets are essential not just in our city but across towns and national parks so that they can be enjoyed by all to the full.

The Office of Public Works, OPW, manages more than 2,000 buildings spread across 1,700 properties throughout the country. I have a very specific request, which is that the OPW follows the work of Dublin City Council and opens its buildings so there can be greater access to public toilets and facilities.

I highlight the special case of the Phoenix Park. I am very lucky as I have the Phoenix Park and St. Stephen's Green within my 5 km zone. The Phoenix Park has 1,752 acres and it is the largest enclosed public park in any capital city in Europe, but it has only three toilet facilities. Hyde Park in London, which is a fifth of the size of the Phoenix Park, has more facilities. I had the opportunity to visit the Phoenix Park once again over the weekend and there was a 20-minute queue for the restrooms at the tea rooms there, which is simply unacceptable and an affront to basic decency. There is much we can do, including opening the cricket clubs and installing temporary toilet facilities. We can open the facilities on Infirmary Road.

Not having public toilets kills liveability and enjoyment of cities, towns and national parks. The Alice Leahy Trust has been campaigning for public toilets and showers since 2006. Up to the 1970s there were 60 staffed public toilets in Dublin. There are currently two temporary public bathrooms in Dublin city that cost approximately €182,000 each per year to staff and maintain. The OPW manages over 2,000 buildings and in most there is a staff member on duty over weekends who could simply open the door and allow people in.

This is a matter of public health and comfort. If we are innovative and pragmatic in our solutions and if we get this right, it will work in the long term not just for my city, which I love, but every city, town and village or every park and beach in the country. The pandemic has allowed us the opportunity to get away from trying to unsee things we have allowed to fester in the country, and one of those is simply not providing comfortable spaces where people can use the bathroom. It is basic dignity in how we live in cities, towns and villages.

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