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

12 o’clock

In the case of people having their bottles and cans delivered to their homes, Re-Turn is engaging with the national Meals on Wheels network to find a way to return bottles and cans to people so they can get their money back.

Regarding the accessibility of the machines, they should not be set at a height above 1.2 m to ensure people in wheelchairs can reach them. In terms of people who have a visual impairment, the machines should not require the use of a screen. In other words, they should be entirely usable without having to navigate a visual interface. The ticket should come out with the refund printed on it automatically without having to press a button. The scheme should be able to be used by people who are blind. I have directly engaged with people who are blind to ensure the scheme is usable in this way. We will, though, continue to work with all disability groups to ensure the scheme adapts and works for everybody in respect of best practice, in the same way it does in the other 40 countries in the world in which this technology has already been deployed.

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