Fiona O'Malley (Dún Laoghaire, Progressive Democrats)

If there were no other reason, it would end the storage costs. The Government needs to grasp this issue quickly. Faith in the electronic voting system has fallen apart. Unquestionably, we will have to continue with the tried and true system. I find nothing wrong with it. I have observed and contributed to political life for many years, both as a candidate and as that valued commodity, an election worker. The drama surrounding the count and voting system and how people finally get elected adds to the interest in politics. It can be described as a bloodsport but it is a bloodsport we in the profession enjoy, whether one is the victim or just on the sidelines. It shows how interested Irish people can get in elections. An instant result with the press of a button would make elections dull.

However, the purpose of an election is not to add to the excitement of life but to select a government, and to do so accurately. That is an advantage the electronic system had over our traditional system. It had the capacity to be 100% accurate in allocating voting transfer preferences. However, the system we had selected did not allow for this but provided a random selection in the last element. This was most unfortunate because the best reason for using electronic voting machines was ignored. We will have to look at this again. The sooner the Minister makes the decision on the electronic voting system, the better, given what we heard this morning about hackers and electronic voting machines in Holland.

I welcome the Bill and the fact the Minister has moved quickly to facilitate the voting rights of prisoners in the next election. My query relates to prisoners imprisoned overseas and the responsibility of the State to them.

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