THE NEW return and recycle measures plastic measures have taken no account of the challenges faced by people with disabilities, a Limerick campaigner has said.
The machines are not at the required height for wheelchair users and need assistance to use them, while blind or visually impaired people have no braille signage on bottles or cans when they buy them.
Leigh Gath, a Thalidomide survivor, wheelchair user, and campaigner for the rights of the disabled, attended Leinster House to view a debate in the Seanad on the issue.
“There are possible solutions to this mess, but these must be looked at in consultation with people with disabilities with a lived experience,” she said.
“As such a person with lived experience, when I approached Re-Turn, I was told that management did not interact with the public, and their customer service was there for people to report broken machines.
“Minister Smyth’s office is acting like Pontius Pilate and washing their hands of the whole thing. Not good enough.”
