Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

Is it not a fact that this whole saga has been an appalling waste of €52 million of public funds? Is it not a fact that there is no confidence in the system? People are extremely concerned about that, about the waste of money and that the Minister who wasted that money, Deputy Cullen, did not listen to Members of this House who urged him to reflect before he went ahead — bull-headed in his desire to waste this money.

Given that there is no confidence in this system and that the machines cannot be adapted, it is time to say this system cannot work. The fact the Minister cannot give us a date in respect of the Meath and North Kildare by-elections, the referendum on the EU constitution or the next general election shows he does not have confidence in the system and is not prepared to test it. The one thing needed and which is missing is a voter verifiable audit trail. Without that, this system is a non-starter.

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