Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday on the Joe Duffy show, a woman rang in to say she was seven months pregnant and went to a well-known department store to use a toilet. She was initially told that she could, and then a supervisor came along and said she had to have a medical letter to justify having access to the toilets in the department store. She had to leave the facilities, at seven months pregnant. She felt it was self-evident why she might need to go to the toilet as a matter of urgency. She went to a small coffee shop some distance away.

In the UK there is a bylaw right to go to the toilet if one is pregnant, including in a policeman's helmet. That is how old the law is. I presume it is not exercised nowadays. We seem to be in a culture of incrementalism. We have yet as a species to recognise that women, in particular, and other people get pregnant and may need to go to the toilet. We do not put services in place or require services to be provided in public spaces. If planning permission is being granted for a department store, at the very least it should have public toilets which are accessible without a jobsworth denying people access to them.

I question the idea that women have to acquire rights slowly in the workplace. It is a matter of gender discrimination on the grounds of pregnancy. It would be the most litigated case of discrimination against women and pregnant people in the Workplace Relations Commission. We still seem to have a mindset that does not recognise that we need the propagation of the species to happen. We need the next generation. We should put supports in place. I am not quite sure where to go with this issue, except to express outrage that there is no accommodation for women and that someone who is obviously pregnant should be asked to produce a letter.

I understand there are occupiers' liability issues, companies may not want to have facilities, there may be issues around drugs and so on. However, it is a basic human necessity. It is not something we can put off until tomorrow. When you gotta go, you gotta go. Perhaps we need to have a discussion on gender or on occupiers' liability legislation. I know that legislation is being reviewed by the Minister for Justice. We need to have a discussion on how basic and fundamental human rights and necessities are being vindicated as we go about our normal daily lives.