Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Two rounds of consultations took place for the deposit return scheme. There were thousands of submissions, including from disability groups and individuals with disabilities. The Re-turn organisation also consulted the National Disability Authority directly to see how best to structure the scheme. In the regulations, as the Deputy said, at her request I included a rule that the retailers must have accessible machines. That was before the launch. Now after the launch, we can see how it is working in practice. It is important that for anybody or any group in society who finds it is not working for them, I am open to listening to their issues and adjusting the scheme, if needed, in any way that I can.