Cllr seeks 'nice toilets'

Local councillor Ivan Keatley is on the hunt for a way to provide more public toilet facilities in Kildare, writes Brian Byrne. But without the Council having to build and maintain them.

His model is one that works in Germany and does so very well. It's called the Nette Toilette (Nice Toilet) scheme, and involves the local authorities paying businesses like hotels and pubs a fee to allow their facilities be used by the general public, not just their customers.

The scheme was launched in 2000 and now more than 200 cities in Germany and Switzerland are using the scheme.

The fee involved there ranges from €30-€100 a month to the businesses, depending on size. In return, they display a provided sign on the outside of their premises which indicates to people that they have facilities available.

The scheme means people caught short don't have to suffer the embarrassment of pretending to be a customer, or don't have to buy anything, to be able to use the toilets.

The idea makes a lot of sense for local authorities, as they don't have to invest big capital in building facilities that then need a lot of maintenance.

As an example, the city of Bremen estimates that a network which would have cost it €1.1m to provide is available for the fees totalling €150,000 a year.

Cllr Keatley recently raised the matter by way of motion to the Council, seeking a scheme similar to the 'shop front renovation scheme' to fund the idea. The officials raised concerns of how it might be policed, and generally were cool to the idea.

But Cllr Keatley says he will push the matter on, and plans to specifically use the Nette Toilette scheme as a proposed model.