Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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58. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 528 of 14 October 2025, the reason hand dryers are not permitted under the Department's School Design Guide. [57494/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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In developing the Department’s Technical Guidance Document in relation to hand drying in schools a number of factors were considered including health/hygiene, noise and electrical demands on the school.

Advice from Department of Health was that electric hand dryers were not the most effective means for children to dry their hands with regard to the removal of bacteria as children will not spend sufficient time at the unit.

Noise criteria applies particularly where toilets are located close to classrooms. The acoustic performance in a classroom is critical to aid teaching and learning (background noise level of 35dBA is required). Electric hand dryers are typically noisy with noise levels as high as 85 DBA. Any sound above 85 dB can have ill effects on hearing, the loss of hearing is related both to the power of the sound as well as the length of exposure.

Hand dryers will cause an increase in the electrical demand on the school. Each school connection on the electricity network has a Maximum Import Capacity (MIC) associated with it. The electrical supply and design of the network provides a school with the electricity supply that is in accordance with the specified MIC. The larger the MIC, the larger the network supply, cables, etc. and also the higher the associated MIC Charges which are applied on a daily basis, regardless of the actual energy use on site. Thus, the use of electric hand dryers in schools would have a detrimental effect on schools’ electrical maximum demand.

Based on assessment of the above criteria it is deemed that the provision of hand dryers in Post-Primary Schools is not appropriate on health, noise and energy grounds.

While hand dryers may reduce waste paper, they pose as a different sort of hazard to our school teaching and learning environment and population.