Unanimous council vote advances accessibility in Tipperary

Irish Wheelchair Association has welcomed a decision by Tipperary local councillors to pass a motion, at their recent council meeting, calling for an Access & Inclusion Officer position in Tipperary County Council.

Rosaleen Lally, National Access Programme Manager with Irish Wheelchair Association, thanked councillors in Tipperary County Council for getting behind the campaign and using their position to improve disability access locally. "We are pleased that Tipperary County Council passed this motion to support an Access & Inclusion Officer role in the council,” said Rosaleen Lally, IWA. “We know that people with disabilities cannot use many public buildings, paths, pedestrian crossings, bus stops, train stations, parks and beaches etc in our communities across Ireland,” said Rosaleen.

“Every local authority in Ireland should have a dedicated Access & Inclusion Officer in their organisation to focus on solving some of these problems. Thanks to councillors in Tipperary we are a step closer today”.

In late March, IWA contacted local councillors across Ireland as part of its campaign to improve access to local services and amenities for people with disabilities and mobility issues. The campaign highlighted that 81% of local authorities do not have a dedicated Access Officer appointed to make public services and amenities more accessible.

“We know that many local authorities have ‘Access Officers’ but often these are simply additional job titles that are given to existing busy staff,” according to Rosaleen Lally, Irish Wheelchair Association. “Our local authorities have dedicated hardworking staff, but they cannot fix problems without budget and resources,” added Rosaleen. “That’s why this motion is so important because it acknowledges the need for dedicated staff and budget.

Tipperary is one of the councils in ten counties that have already passed the motion to support IWA's campaign since April, including Longford, Waterford, Kilkenny, Kerry, Sligo, Carlow, Cavan, Galway, and Mayo. Irish Wheelchair Association is hoping for more nationwide support over the coming months as representatives from 23 out of 25 county councils, that have reached out to Irish Wheelchair Association to support the organisation’s call for local dedicated Access & Inclusion Officers.

“It's really encouraging to see what we can achieve for people with disabilities in our community when we work together. We are grateful for the support from Tipperary councillors and we are hopeful for progress around the county in the coming weeks,” says Rosaleen Lally.