The controversial legislation to allow for electronic voting was still essential to put the Commission on Electronic Voting on a statutory basis, the Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, told the Dáil. Marie O'Halloran reports.
During heated exchanges about the final stages of the Electoral (Amendment) Bill, the opposition objected to it going ahead, because electronic voting will not take place at the European and local elections next month.
But Mr Cullen said he was caught between "the usual rock and hard place" because if he was to announce that he was pulling the Bill there would be uproar from the opposition, because the commission needed to be put on a statutory basis.
"The opposition would accuse me of trying to undermine the commission. The games are over. The Government will proceed on the commitment given that the commission would be set up on a statutory basis," he said.
"The commission in its report urges this House to get on with the job of ensuring its position is secure by putting it on a statutory footing."
Deputies also knew that there were other issues in the Bill apart from electronic voting.
"It deals with personation and the facilitation of a number of existing councillors who are council employees and are standing in the forthcoming elections."
The Labour leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, claimed that going ahead with the legislation "will lay us open to litigation from the supplying company".
He said he did not see the point in the House debating a Bill for 6,000 machines, which "not even Robert Mugabe would buy".
He asked: "What is the point of putting this arrangement on a statutory basis and laying ourselves open to being sued by the company which continues to possess the relevant intellectual property?"
The Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, said the Bill was "completely inadequate" and its terms of reference too narrow. Sinn Féin's leader in the Dáil, Mr Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, said that resuming debate on the legislation made a mockery of the House before the entire electorate.
Fine Gael's environment spokesman, Mr Bernard Allen called on the Minister to "do the decent thing, resign and give some satisfaction to the taxpayers who have been taken for a ride on this matter".
Labour's environment spokesman, Mr Eamon Gilmore, also objected to the Bill being debated. He said the issues that the commission had reported on needed a proper committee-stage-type debate.
Time would be better spent debating Bills that were important to people such as the Residential Tenancies Bill.
The final stage of the Bill will be taken today.