Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

Not alone does it state what I quoted earlier, it states that it fully accepts that the standard of proof to give a positive opinion would be far higher than the standard of proof required to give a negative one and so it has opted for the lower standard. That is fair enough. The commission needs more time to conclude its investigation of the system. I have no argument with that and never had. It does not, however, mean there is anything wrong with the system or that any of the tests undertaken by national or international bodies are not accurate. All the tests carried out by the commission came up 100% perfect.

The question raised in terms of the count system and its security is a serious one but I would like to know exactly what the commission means in terms of accessing and how one would access the system. The best thing the Dáil and Seanad can do, now that we have an independent commission in place, is to give it what it wants and allow it to continue its work. We should put it on the statutory footing requested by it and guaranteed by Government. I presume everyone in the Houses of the Oireachtas wanted the commission to be placed on a statutory footing. We should now allow it the time and space to complete its work.

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