At the April council meeting South Dublin County Council agreed to produce an audit of all council owned buildings for wheelchair accessibility and accessible toilets. This was agreed after a motion proposed by People Before Profit Councillor Madeleine Johansson was passed. Council management also agreed to update information about accessibility on the council’s website. Councillor Johansson had originally asked for an annual audit of buildings to be published on International Wheelchair Day 1st March, however council management said they wouldn’t be able to do so “due to resource constraints”.
Cllr Madeleine Johansson commented: “I’m happy that my motion was passed and that an audit of council owned buildings will be carried out. While accessibility is very good in many buildings such as County Hall and many of the libraries there are others such as community centres that don’t have that.
“People with disabilities, and particularly wheelchair users, face a daily battle trying to do the simple things such as accessing buildings and public spaces. The council has a role to play to ensure that at the very least buildings owned by the council is accessible for everyone in our community regardless of ability. “I’m disappointed that the management wouldn’t agree to an annual audit. This would have allowed detailed reporting every year to make sure that accessibility is improving in our public buildings. I’m committed to continue to fight for this in the future.”
