Voting machines to be stored in centralised site

Minister for the Environment Dick Roche said he had found a centralised location for the storage of electronic voting machines.

Mr Roche said that information provided by returning officers to his department indicated that the total annual storage cost for the machines and ancillary equipment, which included rent, insurance, service charges, rates and heating, was €696,000.

"That is the figure calculated last September. I have asked my department to explore, in consultation with the Department of Defence, the options for centralised storage of the equipment.

"I am pleased to tell the House that a premises suitable for centralised storage of voting machines has now been identified and arrangements for transport and storage are being discussed."

On the system itself, Mr Roche said a programme of further assessment, testing and validation was under way in the department to address issues raised by the Commission on Electronic Voting (CEV).

"The timing of the further use of the system is dependent on the progress made with this work and the ongoing work of the Commission on Electronic Voting, which was mandated by the Oireachtas in 2004 to continue its work and whose report is expected shortly, the Minister said. "I expect the CEV to have a report shortly and, at that stage, further decisions will be made on the future of the machinery."

Padraic McCormack (FG) claimed the machines would be written off and sold at a loss because they would not make the €52 million they cost, a waste of taxpayers' money. "Would it be more economically viable to sell the machines even at a loss, rather than paying €700,00 to store them again next year?" asked Mr McCormack, who raised the issue of the cost of storing some machines in Waterford.

Mr Roche said the Waterford figure was announced in a parliamentary question reply some time ago. "The deputy is correct that the figure is significantly higher than it was in other cases. For example, the cost of storing the machines in Waterford in 2005 was €52,888, whereas in other counties it was significantly lower. " On the option of selling the machines, he said it would make no sense to decide before the CEV had completed its work.