Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy must forgive me that I do not have more detailed information on the consultation that took place in advance of this scheme being introduced. It would appear to me to be a totally obvious and natural thing to consult disability groups. That may have happened. I cannot answer regarding the number that are accessible, but there are more than 2,300 return points operational from 1 February. The vast majority of those are automated collection. There are almost 2,200 of them. Some retailers have opted for a manual, over-the-counter collection system.

In the roll-out of any new scheme, it is essential that feedback can be clearly delivered in some way and there is a forum for raising practical problems. Practical problems are to be expected, but it is how you react to them and address them that matters. I am sure its representatives are not staying up late to watch this tonight, but I do hope Re-Turn and its representatives see that there is an expectation by constituency TDs that where practical problems are raised, a mechanism is found to respond, identify, log them and that ways are found to solve them. We are going to try to change consumer behaviour to have people really engage in this. People buy their goods in different ways. Some get them by delivery without ever going near the shops. How are they going to engage? Rather than simply putting up the cost to change consumer behaviour, this scheme will have to respond to the needs of people and their behaviours and the habits. I thank the Deputy for raising this very practical question tonight. It is a very important part of our environmental policy and I am glad everyone supports it.

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