Local Sinn Féin disabilities spokesperson, Pauline Tully, has questioned why the government's successful Re-Turn scheme is not accessible to all. The Cavan-Monaghan TD highlighted several ways in which the deposit scheme is inaccessible to disabled persons and brought the issues to the attention of the Minister who launched Re-Turn, the Green Party's Ossian Smyth in the Dail.
Pointing out that she is "not small", Pauline Tully said buttons on the Re-Turn machines are above even her eye level, which does not serve wheelchair users well; there is no braille instructions for the visually-impaired and for those with mobility issues who do all their shopping online, there is no system for them to return their plastics and cans and be refunded.
In response, Minister of State for the Circular Economy, Ossian Smyth said there was a public consultation process before the Re-Turn machines were developed, but even with that, it's still wise for the government to look at how such schemes are working after they are up and running. Deputy Tully did not accept the Minister's assertions: "It's alright to say there's public consultation processes but, if those processes are not accessible to everybody then they're not much use," Deputy Tully said in the Dáil, "I am more concerned with the machines themselves; you do have to press a button to get the receipt because I do it myself all the time. I don't know how it's going to be addressed or how you're going to ensure all these machines are accessible because they are currently not accessible."
