GREEN PARTY and Fianna Fáil Ministers have denied a Cabinet rift following Minister for the Environment John Gormley’s recent decision to abandon electronic voting.
Mr Gormley called a halt to the project last month, saying that it would cost €28 million to make the machines suitable for use.
The decade-old project has cost taxpayers in excess of €52 million.
Speaking to journalists in Dublin yesterday, Mr Gormley said that “any tensions that did exist have been resolved to the satisfaction of all parties involved”.
He said that he had met Taoiseach Brian Cowen at the Munster-Leinster rugby match on Saturday.
“He was in good form; I was in good form,” he said. “I do not see any evidence of a rift.”
Responding to a Sunday Tribune report that his decision was a solo run, which ignored a Cabinet decision, the Minister said that Coalition partner Fianna Fáil had welcomed the move the day after he had made his announcement.
“The reports of a rift are exaggerated, and we will continue to do our work effectively,” he added.
“That was a good decision, and I will continue to make such decisions, even in the coming weeks, particularly when it comes to local democracy.”
Mr Gormley denied that the Cabinet had decided to refer the matter to an Oireachtas committee.
“There was no reference to a committee. A Cabinet decision was made and it was warmly welcomed the next day by the Fianna Fáil party,” he added.
“I am absolutely convinced that it was the right decision to make in terms of public spending.”
Asked what specific decision had been made by the Cabinet, Mr Gormley replied: “I cannot reveal what was discussed at Cabinet and the decisions made.”
Mr Gormley’s announcement, during a visit to Cork, clearly caught some of his Cabinet colleagues by surprise at the time. Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism Martin Cullen, who as Mr Gormley’s predecessor decided to press ahead with the electronic voting project, expressed surprise to journalists on the afternoon of the announcement.
“I didn’t even know he was making a bloody announcement,” he said.
Asked if Mr Cullen and Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey, who as Minister for the Environment initiated the project, were annoyed by the decision, Mr Gormley said: “Those are questions you would have to put to the individuals directly.”
A spokeswoman for Mr Cullen told The Irish Times that there was no “rift in the Cabinet” on the issue.
Mr Dempsey was unavailable for comment.
A Fianna Fáil source told The Irish Times that many in the party were privately grateful to Mr Gormley, irrespective of what happened at Cabinet.
“He moved the issue off the political agenda when it was a dreadful embarrassment in the run-up to elections,” the source added.
“We will only hear about it now on the doorsteps in an historical context.”