Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I move:

That Dáil Éireann, noting the Government's failure to:

—consult with, or seek the agreement of, the other parties in Dáil Éireann for the fundamental change in our electoral system involved in the extension of the use of electronic voting to all constituencies and electoral areas for the European and local elections;

—establish an independent electoral commission to oversee the implementation of electronic voting in a fair and transparent manner which has the trust of all political parties and the general public;

—include the provision of a voter-verified paper audit trail as part of the electronic voting process, in order to be able to confirm the accuracy required of the counting system;

—adequately address the technical concerns of experts raised in December 2003 in the Joint Committee on the Environment and Local Government;

and bearing in mind the considerable legal uncertainty regarding the legislative basis for the implementation of electronic voting in the local and European elections in June of this year, calls on the Government to immediately defer plans for the use of electronic voting in the European and local elections and to suspend any further expenditure on, and preparations for, the introduction of electronic voting until an independent electoral commission has been established and has addressed the legitimate concerns of political parties and the public on this issue.

I wish to share my time with Deputies Rabbitte and Sargent.

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