A Kildare woman has called for better toilet access for people suffering with chronic illnesses, which would dramatically improve daily life for thousands of people in Ireland.
Maria Crowe, has said a new bill allowing this would lead to a major improvement for the lives of thousands of people, as she campaigns for new legislation which would mean shops and businesses allowing people with medical problems to avail of staff toilets if no public toilets are available.
This bill, which was introduced to the Dáil as a Private Member's bill earlier this year by Mark Wall, a Labour TD for Kildare, would place "No Wait Cards" on a statutory footing. It is currently awaiting a second reading.
In a recent interview, Ms Crowe who suffers from painful bladder syndrome, said that being denied access to staff toilets affects her dignity. She alluded to one incident where she was shopping in a retail park and needed the toilet urgently during a flare up of her condition, only to be told by a staff member to go to a McDonald's, a five minute drive away.
"I was trying to explain to her, listen I don't have a five minutes drive. I'm in immense pain," she said. "They just wouldn't let me use the toilet. So unfortunately, like I had to go outside into the retail car park and open the two doors of my car and just pee there. And that's the situation that I find myself in".
Painful bladder syndrome can cause severe pain and the need to urinate frequently and urgently.
Ms Crowe revealed that she has set up a social media page to connect with other people in similar situations where they urgently require the toilet due to health issues. She said she was told that in extreme cases, some people have been unable to leave the house during a flare up.
"If I'm going somewhere unfamiliar, I have to look up, you know, is there a toilet?", she said. "Is there a garage and I have to ring ahead to make sure, because I've been caught a few times that they have a toilet and then I get there, the toilet's locked".
Ms Crowe said that she has called for a national "no wait" card to be made readily available, which would provide "independence, freedom and peace of mind" for thousands of others. She has also brought this to the attention of Deputy Wall, who suffers with Crohn's disease, and has a personal understanding of this issue.
Mr Wall has said that while many business never reopened after the Covid pandemic, many of them have staff toilets which could be used by someone in desperate need.
He and Ms Crowe are keen to make these "no wait" cards available through GPs or the HSE.
Mr Wall said: "The problem around the current card that Crohn's and Colitis Ireland have, it has no legal standing and a lot of premises are still denying people who need to use toilet facilities urgently the right to do so".
He continued: "What we're saying here is that the people using these cards have to use facilities, and they're not going to be claiming off businesses because they had to go and use the facilities quickly".
"So what we're asking businesses to do is to recognise that, yes, of course, unfortunately, there is insurance and has been insurance claims, but if we have a card that's accepted and that is only for people who need to use it urgently, then I hope that businesses can buy into that," he added.
"And we can also work with insurance companies to ensure that they can work with businesses to reduce any liability or get rid of any liability that may come as a result of this".
The bill would propose to address concerns from business by exempting them from any liability under Section 3 of the Occupiers; Liability Act 1995. It also proposes that the card would only be accepted by business when three members of staff are present.
