A woman from Kildare has said that a proposed new bill before the Dáil, which seeks to improve access to toilets for individuals living with chronic illnesses, could greatly enhance everyday life for thousands across Ireland.
Maria Crowe has been advocating for legislation that would oblige shops and businesses to permit people with specific medical conditions to use staff toilets when no public facilities are available, reports RTE.
The draft law, titled the Equal Status (Access to Toilet Facilities) Bill 2026, aims to give legal recognition to so-called “No Wait Cards”.
It was brought before the Dáil earlier this year as a Private Member’s Bill by Labour TD for Kildare South Mark Wall and is currently awaiting its second reading, reports RTE.
Ms Crowe lives with painful bladder syndrome, a disorder that can cause intense discomfort along with a frequent and urgent need to urinate.
She explained that being denied access to staff toilets has a serious impact on her sense of dignity, reports RTE.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Drivetime, she recalled an incident while shopping at a retail park when she urgently needed a toilet during a flare-up of her condition.
A staff member directed her to a McDonald’s located a five-minute drive away, reports RTE.
“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,” reports RTE.
Ms Crowe later created a social media page to connect with others experiencing conditions that require immediate toilet access.
She said many people have told her they feel unable to leave their homes during flare-ups and must organise trips “like a military operation”, reports RTE.
“If I’m going somewhere unfamiliar, I have to look up, you know, is there a toilet?
“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,” she said,
Ms Crowe stated that introducing a national “no wait” card with legal backing would provide her and many others with “independence, freedom and peace of mind”, reports RTE.
She brought her campaign to the attention of Deputy Wall.
Deputy Wall, who has Crohn’s disease, said he personally understands the challenges involved, reports RTE.
He noted that many businesses shut their customer toilets during the Covid-19 pandemic and never reopened them, despite still having staff facilities that could be used in urgent situations.
Groups such as Crohn’s Ireland and Colitis Ireland already issue “no wait” cards, but Mr Wall and Ms Crowe want them to be more widely available and distributed through GPs or the HSE, reports RTE.
“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,” Deputy Wall said, reports RTE.
The bill also seeks to ease concerns among businesses by exempting them from liability under Section 3 of the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1995.
Deputy Wall said: “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, reports RTE.
“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,” reports RTE.
The proposed law also states that businesses would only be required to accept the card when at least three staff members are present.
“This can be a game changer for so many people in this country,” said Mr Wall,
“They can actually start planning their social lives again because so many at the moment are confined to their homes,” reports RTE.
Dr Fadi Salameh, Director of Gynaecology at the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin, said he supports the bill as it could greatly improve the quality of life for people with severe conditions.
He explained that he regularly treats patients who experience extreme pain if they are unable to urinate for even half an hour, reports RTE.
He also said there is limited public awareness of how common such conditions are.
“The latest statistics show that almost about 40% of women would have some degree of bladder symptoms. It’s a very silent problem that not a lot of people talk about,” he said, reports RTE.
“I assume there’s a degree of shame around this as well. Not all women would come forward talking about their bladder symptoms. So it’s not very well understood by a lot of people, women and men included,” reports RTE.
Dr Fadi added that both the healthcare sector and the HSE need to do more to improve awareness.
“They need to do awareness campaigns around this,” he said, reports RTE.
“Incontinence is not a popular topic to talk about, which it probably should be considering the amount of patients that suffer from this, which is about 40% of women,” reports RTE.
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