Charlie McCreevy (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:

"— recalling the approval by the Oireachtas of the legislative provisions for electronic voting and counting set out in the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2001;

— recognising the recent endorsement of the introduction of electronic voting and counting at the June 2004 polls by the Joint Committee on the Environment and Local Government;

— noting that the electronic voting and counting system has been comprehensively tested and validated by a range of independent test institutes and companies;

— acknowledging the proven track record of the system throughout the Netherlands and in the German cities of Cologne and Dusseldorf,

— noting the more recent approval for the use of the system in France in a number of locations at the European Parliament elections in June;

— recognising the earlier successful use of the system in Ireland in three constituencies at the 2002 general election and in a further four constituencies at the Nice 2 referendum;

— bearing in mind the high level of customer satisfaction expressed by Irish voters with the new system in a survey carried out following the use of the system in the seven pilot constituencies;

— recalling the Government's open declaration in October 2002 of their intention to roll out electronic voting countrywide for the European and local elections in June 2004; and

— considering the deficiencies in the manual system with regard to spoilt votes, lengthy counts and recounts;

supports the continued preparations being made for the full implementation of electronic voting and counting to improve and modernise the electoral system in Ireland; and

notes the intention of the Government, out of respect for the significance of the electoral process, and for the avoidance of doubt, to introduce legislation providing for:

— the establishment of an independent panel to verify the secrecy and accuracy of arrangements proposed for electronic voting (this panel to be appointed in advance of the enactment of the legislation);

— the application by primary legislation of electronic voting to non-Dáil elections;

— more explicit arrangements regarding abstention from voting; and

— conditions under which tally data may be made available from the electronic counting system to interested parties."

I wish to share my time with Deputy Nolan.

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