Wicklow Sinn Féin TD John Brady has criticised the failure of the government to make the deposit return scheme accessible to disabled persons. He described the government failure as being an unacceptable penalisation which needs to end.
Brady said:
“The operating buttons on the deposit return machines are above the eye-level of a person of a wheelchair user, which make it difficult to believe that designers gave any thought to disability proofing the machines to ensure that everybody would be able to avail of the scheme.
The absence of any attempt to cater for visually impaired and mobility impaired users is wrong. If you are being forced to pay additional charges for a product because there is an option to recycle that product, you must be given the right and the means to recycle that product.
While the government have attempted to sidestep criticism of their failure to provide the means for disabled persons to avail of the scheme, it is very clear that no-one is prepared to accept the governments attempt to recycle excuses for their mismanagement.
I accept that there was a public consultation process, but Minister Ossian Smyth to attempt to pass the blame for this onto the public is plain ridiculous.
The fact of the matter is that the machines are not accessible to everyone. And this is something that the government needs to address.
The reality here is that the government is penalising disabled persons as the return scheme machines are not designed to be accessible is not acceptable and needs to be remedied.
If the government are serious about promoting the active and full participation of disabled people in Irish society, they have a responsibility to ensure that policies and practices are proofed of to ensure that they meet the needs of disabled persons.
The question arises as to whether disabled people were directly consulted in the development of the scheme? Where their needs, experiences, and concerns as individuals given consideration?
The answer to these questions is no. The government failed to consider the needs of disabled persons, they made no effort to evaluate the practices of the scheme in operation to ensure that disabled persons could fully participate in the scheme.
If you pay a deposit on a product and are unable to claim that deposit back as a consequence of government failure to make the machines accessible to you, you are being unjustly taxed.
Disabled persons already face existing financial burdens, they do not need to be further burdened by government ineptitude.
This unfair penalisation of disabled persons needs to end immediately