Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 March 2022
69. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the steps being taken by the Office of Public Works to ensure that buildings it has responsibility for are fully accessible for persons with disabilities including having suitable toilet changing places facilities. [11087/22]
View answerI wish to outline to the Deputy the steps that are currently underway in relation to accessibility for all. The OPW's ambition is to endeavour to integrate best practice into every aspect of our technical compliance requirements. We aim to redefine and encompass techniques which are both compliant as well as being the best solutions for the built environment encompassed within our area of responsibility. This approach benefits all of society and re-frames and prioritises the work of OPW architects, engineers, surveyors, district inspectors, clerks of works and other stakeholders working directly with us or acting on our behalf. This in turn enhances the experiences of building users and ensures Accessibility and Universal Design principles permeate all aspects of the built environment to which the public have the right to access through application of our Codes of Practice, our Technical Guidance Documents and our Building Regulations.
Accessibility audit reviews of a prioritised list of OPW buildings, to which the public have access countrywide, are being carried out at the moment, by a combination of our own technical staff resources and external consultants. Due to the pandemic most of our planned audits were postponed but the intention is to advance on these as a priority over the coming months.
Access audits are the mechanism for producing evidence based data for the works to be undertaken. This is informed by a set of criteria as set out by Part M of the Technical Guidance Documents of the building regulations. A priority list and the urgency of the works is set out at the start of each year with each regional manager and the Universal Access Programme budget holder. Since March 2020 the programme has been delayed by Covid-19 and for the most part progress halted where we could not visit sites. Our teams would require additional resources for what would be an extensive roll out programme across the entire estate. This is the current position as of 28th February 2022. Even with progress to date we fully appreciate that we must further strive to create a built environment best suited and equipped to ensure all our citizens are treated with dignity and consideration. Since the publication of the I.S. EN 17161:2019 standard on Design for All in 2019, we have looked forward to moving towards wider application of the Universal Design principles in our buildings and sites. This will shortly benefit from the suite of amendments under consideration to Technical Guidance Document Part M for the provision of Changing Places Facilities in specific settings. (Proposed legislation: Building Regulations (Part M Amendment) Regulations 2022).
In December 2020, in support of Government policy on advancing the rights and inclusion of people with disabilities, Minister for Housing Local Government and Heritage established a Working Group to examine the provision of a Changing Places facility in certain buildings. The Working Group has now recommended the types and sizes of buildings where a changing places toilet should be required, along with the technical requirements (equipment, room size and layout) of a changing places toilet.
The public consultation was launched on 9 February 2022, which seeks submissions, observations and comments on a proposed amendment to the Building Regulations and associated Technical Guidance Document M – Access and Use to make provision for a changing places toilet in certain buildings.
To assist in this process, the following documents are available on the Department's website www.gov.ie/en/consultation/247d5-public-consultation-on-the-review-of-building-regulations-part-m-access-and-use-to-make-provision-for-a-changing-places-toilet-in-certain-buildings/
and interested parties will have until 12 May 2022 to submit their comments:
- Draft Building Regulations (Part M Amendment) Regulations 2022
--Draft Technical Guidance Document M – Access and Use 2022
- A Preliminary Regulatory Impact Analysis
- An easy read consultation document
- A template for submissions
