Ivana Bacik (Independent)

I am grateful to Senators Quinn and Coffey for their support for the amendment. I was being somewhat flippant earlier but I want to make one further important point. Inserting a provision such as this in the Bill would not only send an important signal in terms of environmental considerations but it would also force a change in apartment design. Senator Coffey asked if there were ways to overcome aesthetic considerations about unsightly displays of underwear and so on. Families living on the Continent are culturally used to living and being brought up in apartment blocks and people routinely dry laundry on balconies. A provision for air drying clothes is built into the design of apartments. That is what we would see happening if a provision such as this was inserted in the Bill. It would change the way in which apartments were designed; they would be more conducive to family living and could contribute to a change in culture. On the Continent one sees retractable clotheslines on balconies as a matter of course and in apartments which do not have balconies such clotheslines are fitted to window frames. They are not unsightly and people get used to them. It makes apartment complexes look more lived in.

The analogy with the smoking ban is useful in this context. It was claimed it it would lead to difficulties and practical problems. However, pub and bar owners have become creative about the design of smoking areas which are often attractive in appearance. They have generally changed the nature of our pavement culture in a very nice way. Similarly, we have to get over seeing laundry hanging outside apartments as unsightly; we have to develop a different way of looking at this. This is important from an environmental point of view but it is also important if we are trying to generate a culture in which people believe they can live and bring up children in apartments. Up until now our apartment design has been poor and shoddy. For the most part, apartments have been designed for couples or single people. We have to get overcome this problem. Dublin City Council, among other councils, has recognised this and is trying to ensure better planning and the building of bigger apartments that are more family friendly. I would consider this as part of the context for the amendment.

I would like to receive some indication from the Minister that he might be prepared to consider doing something along the lines of what is proposed in the amendment. I hope he can at least appreciate what we are trying to achieve.